Health services to be further decentralised with new clinical technicians – CMO

The introduction into the public health sector of graduates from clinical and technical programmes of the Health Ministry is expected to decentralise and further enhance medical services to the population.
On Thursday, the Health Ministry facilitated the graduation of the final batch of students from the clinical and technical programmes, who commenced training in 2019. These included Pharmacy Assistants and Medical Laboratory Technicians. These persons, who hailed from eight administrative regions, were engaged through online and blended training solutions amid challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Narine Singh expressed that, with such a vast cover, services would be decentralised and enhanced even further. Graduates were also urged to further their studies in their respective fields, and return to serve their communities.
“The Ministry is expanding in health services in all the regions. We’re decentralising services, so that we can now have laboratory services in all of the regions, the hospitals, and most of the health centres… We have seen many Pharmacy Assistants go on to become Pharmacists, and MLTs go on to become Medical Technologists. That is a gateway, so don’t stop at this level,” he encouraged.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Health Ministry, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, acknowledged that with the pandemic still raging, authorities have to find a way to work within the constraints. While the Ministry is training, Dr Mahadeo pointed out, there are always gaps to be filled.
“The numbers that we are graduating cannot, and will not, fill the gaps out there that need to be filled. We have decided at the Ministry of Health, if you do the same thing day by day or year by year and you can’t fill the gaps that are there, then you will never fill the gaps,” Dr Mahadeo relayed.
To this end, Govt is also expending $1 billion to upgrade health facilities in order to promote a comfortable and safe environment for staffers and patients. Throughout the pandemic, the Ministry has also been implementing more training to meet the needs of the country.
Coordinator of the Medical Laboratory Technician Training Programme, Joyce Whyte-Chin, charged the new graduates to follow protocols in the delivery of service to the population. Whyte-Chin stressed, “Every time you go into the working world, remember that no one at the Ministry of Health is looking at you. Therefore, you need to take pride in the work that you do. You need to follow protocols at all times. Follow the SOPs, adhere to guidelines, and be compassionate to your patients.”
Gabriel Thomas from the MLT programme was named valedictorian, having secured a distinction in the respective course. In her speech, Thomas related, “We did not give up in the face of adversity, even though all of us wanted to. Our time in this programme was unique, but not without challenges…We conquered the online classroom, which was extremely difficult. It was also difficult to transition to online learning.” (G12)