Health Ministry gets strategic support to boost procurement capabilities

Dec 14, 2018 News

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Still reeling from media reports which allude to allegations of procurement breaches during the past year, the Ministry of Public Health is aiming to

improve its global supply chain management standing.
A move in this direction is imperative since reports suggest that failure to conform to global standards can in fact negatively affect the Ministry’s supply chain system.
In order to redeem its daunting position, Guyana is currently on the penultimate rung of the Supply Chain Maturity Framework with a bronze rating and is on an upward trajectory to attain silver.
“Our aim is bringing together the relevant stakeholders to assess the work of our consultant [Martin Ellis] and to analyse the findings to better understand where Guyana is in terms of supply chain with canvas being the very basis and gold and accreditation being the high points,” said Ms. Caroline Healey, Country Director, United States Agency for International Development [USAID] Global Health Supply Chain Programme [GHSC]-Procurement and Supply Management [PSM].
Healey made the observation this week at a stakeholders meeting held at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown. It involved employees of the newly-created Procurement Unit, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board [NPTAB]; Guyana Revenue Authority [GRA]; Health Sector Development Unit [HSDU] – Global Fund, and the Pan American Health Organisation, Guyana office.
Following recent evaluations of the current system, Healey noted that the country’s status has not reached its peak.
Healey said the USAID GHSC-PSM consultant [Ellis], who is in Guyana on a two-week stay, will lecture participants on national health supply chain improvement opportunities and unveil strategies how to elevate the country’s procurement status through a supply chain maturity framework.
“We have been doing some exercises to prioritise the country’s opportunities and challenges. But we want to present it back to the group here to see if…this makes sense and if it’s correct.

(We want) to see what kind of actions we need to take to really strengthen the supply chain management going forward and strengthen the role of procurement because the whole point is to ensure they have the right drugs, in the right place at the right time,” Healey added.
The USAID Country Director said following the stakeholders’ consultation, the expectations are to ensure that data are collected in a timely fashion and also to create a tracking system that is fully guided by terms of reference.
The inevitability will make it easier to identify the possible bottlenecks blocking the procurement process for drugs, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to arrive on time.
While reiterating USAID GHSC-PSM’s commitment to helping the Public Health Ministry, Healey advocated for early procurement planning rather that last minute forecasting.
Meanwhile, Ellis explained that nine functions were evaluated by a maturity level determined by people, process and technology. Those were data gathering, forecasting, procurement, port of entry, central warehouse, transportation, regional warehouse, health facility and financial flow.
“Consolidation is key,” Ellis told the local stakeholders. He added that that can leverage the positivity and sustainability of the supply chain management system in any country.
“We need to plan accordingly,” Ellis said emphasising that the process of procurement requires team-work at every level, from the USAID GHSC-PSM and throughout the Public Health system. He maintained that standard procedures should be developed and followed to make the delivery of goods and services, easier.

“The procurement unit must be able to have meetings regularly with relevant stakeholders, that is, [with] PAHO, NPTAB, the Ministry of Finance [MOF] among other,” Ellis advised.
In her feature address, Ms. Collette Adams, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, said that following the establishment of the Procurement Unit in 2017, Guyana has committed to implementing an international competitive bidding [ICB] process.
It has since abolished sole-sourcing for its drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, health equipment and other health-product needs.
“Since 2015, the Ministry has stood committed to implementing the national and international best practices in the planning, management and contracting of its procurement activities, particularly for health commodities and equipment as part of its process with development-partners support and the establishment of a dedicated procurement unit in 2017 to undertake procurement funded by the Government of Guyana (GOG),” Adams noted.
She emphasised that the Ministry’s main objective has been to support the institutionalisation of best practices by building capacity in procurement planning, contract management and sustainable procurement management systems which are linked to increased focus on governance and leadership within the health sector.

“Our development partners, USAID, Global Fund, and PAHO/WHO are partnering with the Ministry to provide hands-on technical mentoring and training in procurement planning, evaluation, contract management and reporting based on current institutionalisation of the procurement unit.”
She is optimistic that this approach will also ensure timely and efficient management of the national procurement process which will reduce the risk of stock-outs and/or expiration of drugs.
According to her, procurement staff members have already received basic procurement training and systems strengthening support. They also successfully completed the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply [CIPS] certification programme.
The Permanent Secretary revealed that the procurement employees will be coursed in advanced procurement studies in 2019/2020 to continue the professionalization of the staff.
Also present at the one-day forum were PAHO/WHO’s consultants, Mr. Robert Samayoa, and Mr. Marcos Chaparro from the Strategic Fund Office, Washington DC.
Samayoa and Chaparro are currently reviewing the PAHO Strategic Fund Order for 2019 and will be providing expert guidance for the next procurement exercise, Adams said.

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