Stricter Monitoring Of Health Care Delivery

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says there will be stricter monitoring of health care delivery, even as a customer service policy for the health sector is being finalized.

“Even when you put a policy in place, the policy needs to be monitored. The question of training of persons (in customer service is important), not only our health professionals but the person at the front desk, who is doing the registration, and other areas, whether it is diagnostics or porter service. We are going to hold all health workers accountable. It is from the bottom to the top,” he stated.

The Minister was speaking with JIS News yesterday (August 20), following an unannounced visit to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in Kingston.

He said the report from the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) into recent complaints surrounding the treatment of patients by staff at that institution, should be in his hands by mid-September.  He stressed that there must be sanctions if patients are being mistreated.

Minister Ferguson told JIS News that he is “very much aware” of the strain on the hospital, which is the largest specialist maternity institution in the region, but noted that quality patient care must be the hallmark of all the personnel there.

VJH does over 9,000 deliveries annually and several critical referrals are made from hospitals across the island and the wider Caribbean. Dr. Ferguson pledged that all will be done to ensure that the institution maintains its good reputation.

“I made it very clear (to the staff) that the majority of doctors, nurses and health workers do act in a professional manner, and we must not allow persons, who have developed a reputation for unprofessional conduct, to affect the majority,” the Minister told JIS News.

He appealed to those, “who at all times, act in the best interest of clients at the hospital, to encourage the few who act otherwise,” and also report them.

“We cannot afford that minority element to put a threat on a majority,” he stressed.

Minister Ferguson, during his tour, visited the High Risk Area, Delivery Room, Neonatal Ward, Post-natal Ward, and the Ante-natal Clinic.

He was accompanied by Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kevin Harvey, and personnel from SERHA.