Healthcare workers are the people who risk their lives to protect others

Apr 09, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor

World Health Day 2022 is being observed under the theme “Our planet, our health.” This theme is most relevant and significant as it impacts the attitudes of every human being on the planet, including our way of life, standards, practices, interrelations, actions towards the environment and climate change, just to name a few. So, World Health is not only about our hard-working healthcare workers, but also about individuals doing the right things to ensure the maintenance of a healthy environment, relationships free of acrimony and racism and healthy lifestyles, among other things.

Nonetheless, everyone deserves appreciation for his/her efforts to achieve and maintain a high state of health, but kudos must be given to frontline healthcare workers, who are the people that risk their own lives and health to protect others. It is these selfless people who set the tone for the lofty health standards we observe during our life cycles and those we pass on from generation to generation.

In health care one often hears of quality care being premised on safe, professional, patient and family centered aspects of healthcare delivery. Rarely does one hear the term patient and provider safety. While during this month occupational safety and health is being observed globally, it is apt to also think not only of the physical, but also the psychosocial environment in which Health Care Workers are asked to deliver the desired level of care.

At a time when the Health Sector is bleeding qualified professionals to migration and the patient to healthcare provider ratio rises beyond manageable limits, some appropriate questions would be: Why the endless brain-drain in the sector? What steps are the powers-that-be taking to maintain a manageable patient to healthcare provider ratio? What impact the brain and skills-drain is having on the quality of healthcare delivery? Are there problems with employees’ morale?

That the status quo where there continues to have a steady and unceasing haemorrhaging of skilled healthcare professionals and situations where patients outstrip healthcare professionals by at least twelve to one over a protracted period, logically indicates only one thing. That is, that the employers do not care, and the employees have lost hope and only find solace in migration to maintain their own health levels and to meet the demands of other employers, who show more consideration for their wellbeing.

All in all, World Health Day is such a great opportunity to reflect and mobilized to give back to the community and promote good causes, such as, keep your environment clean, fitness campaigns, workshops on health and wellness, etc. This day is also a novel opportunity for employers to reconsider and recognised their inadequacies of the health care professionals and ancillary labour force and improve measures that can be implemented to reduce the level of employees’ depression and increase motivation which will result in efficiency and effectiveness in discharging their duties. This will certainly lead to job satisfaction which will contribute to enjoyable and satisfying family life.

Regards
Guyana Public Service Union