The Ministry of Health and by extension the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis instituted several critical reforms in the healthcare sector aimed at delivering quality, efficiency and excellence.
Some of these reforms were highlighted on the April 05 edition of Infocus, by Dr. Jenson Morton, Director of Health Institutions, who noted that the reforms were done in collaboration with the entire health team that was established to take the health sector forward.
“The first thing we thought was really crucial was improving customer service. That was identified early, and we have already started partnership with the relevant bodies to get customer service training onboard. It started formally a few weeks ago and it is going to be something we incorporate into the regular indoctrination process of everyone that comes to work at JNF [Joseph Nathaniel France],” said Dr. Morton. “We are also in discussion with CFBC [Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College] to ensure that that aspect is also included with the nursing training even before you arrive at JNF such that that aspect is well ingrained.”
Dr. Morton added that the customer training sessions will be continuous and will serve as a refresher course because this is “what we do to ensure that at the end of the day the patients, their relatives, etc. are cared for properly.”
Another initiative taken by the Ministry of Health pertained to basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support training for numerous staff members.
“Essentially, the thought process was that if any emergency was to erupt in any part of the health institution, that regardless of the staff member that is present, they can at least assist with the resuscitation of that patient. That is the end goal,” said Dr. Morton.
Approximately 220 workers have since been trained – some in basic life support, some in advanced cardiovascular life support and others in pediatric assistance life support.
“Since then, we have also been engaging in some subsequent leadership training for the nurse managers and assistant nurse managers. We also had leadership training for the physicians, as well as training for all of the clerical staff with regards to having full understanding of all aspects of medical terminology so that everyone is on the same wavelength whether you come from a science background or not,” said the Director of Health Institutions. “So those were our investments with regards to different parts of the human resources because that was something that was really important.”
Equally important, Dr. Morton addressed the assignment of a cadre of doctors to the Pogson Medical Center in Sandy Point to ensure that a doctor is physically available 24/7 at the medical facility. This measure is also expected to be adopted at the Mary Charles Hospital in Molineux.