Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings along with a team of senior officials on Tuesday visited the Lethem Hospital in Region Nine to address a number of issues and there was a promise that specialists would be sourced for the institution.
In a meeting with the staff of the Lethem hospital, the Minister heard their concerns.
GINA said that she stressed that health care protocols should be observed by all staff working in the hospital.
Director of Regional Health Services, Dr Kay Shako who also accompanied the minister said that there is need for the hospital to be recognised as a regional institution but for this to happen, the requisite specialist staff must be available.
“We are working assiduously to bring this hospital up to the level of a regional hospital. We feel that this hospital has most of what is needed for it to become a regional hospital, but what we are working on is trying to get the appropriate specialists to come and complete Lethem being a regional hospital,” Dr. Shako added.
The team addressed staff’s concerns, one of which was the updating of the records department via information and communications technology to provide more efficient service. The department currently engages in manual record keeping.
Another issue was that of referrals. One doctor explained that when a patient is referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, the patient is usually asked to return to complete the treatment which would be costly, transportation wise. The doctor added that although there is the Amerindian hostel available in Georgetown, to accommodate individuals, there are still many complaints of the poor living conditions at the facility.
Staff attached to the Maternal and Child Health Department in the region requested transportation to assist in providing health services to persons in need in the sub – regions.
