…to facilitate extended hours of service
Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) will now have extended time to access a pharmacy through the public health system. This follows the commissioning of an outpatient pharmacy at the New Amsterdam Hospital on Monday.
The new facility will allow persons to have access to a pharmacy between 08:00h and 22:00h.
Previously the pharmacy at the New Amsterdam hospital was only open on weekdays from 08:00h to 16:00h.
Medical Superintendent of the New Amsterdam Hospital, Dr Vasana Henry speaking at a simple commissioning ceremony said the new facility had been in the pipeline for some time. In fact, she pointed out that the goal is to have a 24-hour pharmacy service but because of the lack of staff, they have only been able to extend the service to 22:00h.
“Now when persons come off of work in the afternoon, they can access services, before, persons would have to come back the next day to access services at the pharmacy. We will continue to improve our services to the population of Region Six and some extension Region Five,” she said.
The project is a much-needed one, the Regional Health Officer said. According to Dr Vishalya Sharma, the department is not only hoping to expand its services to the region but to also bring more services and the interdiction of the satellite pharmacy is proof of such.
She noted that the Hospital sees about 40,000 patients annually at the outpatient departments and the Accident and Emergency unit.
“That is a significant total,” she noted, explaining that only the Georgetown Pubic Hospital sees more patients that that on annual basis.
This is in addition to the almost 4000 inpatients on an annual basis.
“Most of the time these patients need treatment and most of the time our pharmacy hours cannot adequately accommodate them.”
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman David Armogan explained that both staff and their Union had been objecting to the extended working hours and as such, it took a long time for the institution to be able to offer pharmacy services beyond what is considered normal working hours.
However, he noted that the new pharmacy and introduction of extended hours for the pharmacy come at a time when the health sector in the region has been under heavy criticism.
“And so the time has come for us to repair those damages that have been created. The time has now come for us to present a greater level of confidence and comfort to the public so that they can once again have the level of belief that they use to have in the public health system in this region.”
Armogan noted that most of those who visit the public health facilities in the region are those who cannot afford the high cost of private medical services. As such he noted that Government has recognised its responsibility in ensuring that the service offered is on par with that provided at private institutions or even better.
“Every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that we can bring back this level of confidence to the people. One of the things that can do that is the way you relate to the public. It is very important to ensure that we are serving the public,” the Chairman said.
He noted that the staff is being given the necessary tools to do what they are required to do while noting that it is not fair to the Government, which is spending large sums of money and expecting workers to take their responsibility seriously, and at the end of it all, persons are dissatisfied with the service being offered. (G4)
