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GPHC Maternity Unit in administrative mess
…performance audit highlights absence of administrative manual, updated staff protocol
The maternity unit of GPHC
Kaieteur News – A performance audit conducted by the office of the Auditor General of Guyana has highlighted a number of flaws in management of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Maternity Unit.
According to a report compiled by the audit office this year, the examination found GPHC’s management lacking comprehensive and updated staff policies and guidelines. The absence of such guiding protocol is a breach of the Health Facility Licensing Regulations.
The report outlined that while GPHC’s management is responsible for ensuring that all women receive quality care and have the best experiences in the maternity unit, to achieve this, comprehensive policies, procedures and other guidelines should be established to provide staff with the necessary guidance in executing their duties.
In addition, the report noted that the documents should comply with applicable laws and regulations as well as align with relevant policies, standards and best practices.
These policies should be periodically reviewed to ensure they are still relevant to the tasks at hand. However, the audit office, noted that a comprehensive manual of administrative procedures was not in place.
According to the audit report “Section 18 of the Health Facility Licensing Regulations 2008 requires each health facility or hospital to have written policies and procedures that will stipulate the scope and conduct of the care and services that are provided. The GPHC was expected to develop a comprehensive manual of administrative procedures to guide and direct staff in carrying out their duties.”
The absence of such a manual, the report said could compromise the quality of services that the hospital is expected to provide to properly care for their patients and function effectively.
“Ward protocols used were not reviewed and updated where necessary. In the absence of a comprehensive manual of administrative procedures, ward protocols were used to guide the delivery of services, training, investigations, etc. within the Maternity Unit,”
The document stated that the ward protocols provided staff with a detailed structure on how to effectively manage the patient and carry out procedures.
“Protocols for each area within the Maternity Unit were developed by Management and approved by the Medical Advisory Committee. Management indicated that the protocols are required to be reviewed every three years; however, they are only updated when necessary.”
“There was no evidence that Management reviewed any of the protocols to determine their relevance and update them where necessary to conform to existing standards and changing practices. A lack of updated protocols can affect the delivery of standardised and compliant services to ensure quality care is provided to patients,” the performance audit report outlined.
(GPHC Maternity Unit in administrative mess)
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