Healthcare Professionals Complete Eight-Month Leadership Training Programme

Healthcare professionals who successfully completed their eight-month Leadership Training Programme say the public health system will be better served from their enhanced knowledge.

The training was organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in collaboration with the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) and the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica.

One of the participants, Medical Officer of Health for Clarendon, Dr. Kimberly Scarlett-Campbell, said that to navigate the complexities of healthcare, effective leadership is crucial, adding that there must be the creation of a culture of excellence, compassion and collaboration.

“As healthcare professionals, we know that leadership is not about giving orders or making decisions, it is about inspiring our teams, motivating our teams, creating a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and putting patients at the forefront of everything that we do,” she said.

Dr. Scarlett-Campbell was speaking at the graduation ceremony for 42 healthcare professionals, held recently at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

The overarching goal of the programme is to equip healthcare professionals and management executives with critical skills of leadership and management, enabling greater organisational effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of healthcare services in health centres, hospitals, and health departments.

Dr. Scarlett-Campbell said that delivering quality care requires strategic thinking, communication, empathy, coaching, patient-centred care, collaboration and emotional intelligence, which they all learned about.

She argued that through the training, the Ministry of Health and Wellness and UTech Jamaica have “helped to create a new environment of transforming healthcare organisations that can improve patient outcomes, reduce medical errors, and enhance the overall quality of care”.

She urged her colleagues to be leaders who create a culture of innovation and collaboration, as they are “empowered to take risks and try new approaches”.

“Let us all work together to create a healthcare system that is patient-centred, and that is equitable. Let us prioritise this healthcare leadership training, and let us work to create a better Jamaica and a brighter future for our patients and communities,” Dr. Scarlett-Campbell said.

Director of Nursing at the Princess Margaret Hospital in St. Thomas, Nadine Anderson Lawrence, said the training “has impacted greatly on my life”, has enhanced her leadership skills, built her self-confidence, increased her self-awareness, and “I am able to network with other healthcare providers in all the Regions”.

“This will benefit my professional growth,” she said, adding that she will now be applying team management to improve patient outcome and ensure better communication.

“The wider society at large will see improved patient satisfaction, and improved efficiency in service delivery, which will allow for better decision-making. I have completed a timely training that has given me the drive to help advance my colleagues and my place of work,” the Director said.

The senior nurse suggested that the training must continue, as there are paradigm shifts taking place worldwide, and it is “with this training that we will be able to benchmark other healthcare facilities worldwide and adapt new changes for better decision-making”.

Senior Medical Officer at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Dr. Dwight Whittle, said the training has impacted their lives and leadership styles significantly, and that the modules of the training programme were relevant and appropriate.

“Every module that was offered in this programme has impacted us significantly in a positive manner. This has led to further development of our leadership skills and a better understanding of strategic management and financing in healthcare. The first two modules that were offered, understanding leadership in healthcare and leadership and communication, the concept of emotional intelligence, transformational leadership were our takeaway points,” Dr. Whittle said.

Meanwhile, Dean of the College of Health Sciences at UTech Jamaica, Professor Adella Campell, charged the graduates to expand their borders by embracing new knowledge, technologies and global perspectives, and to build bridges by fostering collaboration, cultural diversity and understanding, and patient-centred care.

“Embrace transformative leadership that will see you driving the changes that will shape the future of Jamaica and the public health system,” the Professor urged.

The ceremony was held under the theme ‘Expanding Borders, Building New Bridges in Healthcare, Embracing Transformational Leadership’.