Wastage of oxygen found at hospitals

…issue being addressed – Health Minister

Recognising that proper use of the resources at hospitals can reduce wastage and save money, the Health Ministry has embarked on efforts to effectively manage oxygen at those facilities.
Speaking at a recent Healthcare Technology Management Training exercise, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony declared that there has been ‘rudimentary’ use of this resource in the health sector. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) had been called in to assess regional hospitals in a bid to fix existing issues.
“In many of our regional hospitals, we have rudimentary use of oxygen. I would say because what we would normally do is have an oxygen tank, and from that tank, we then would try to provide for patients with oxygen. We’re moving away from that, because that’s something that’s not the ideal,” Dr Anthony has said.
He further said, “Therefore, we asked PAHO that we want to have a complete assessment of at least up to the level of our district hospitals, to understand the challenges that we have with oxygen. What systems do we have on the ground? Where are they located? Are they functioning? Are they optimum? What else can we do at that particular facility to improve it, to make sure that we get better outcomes?”
Sometime ago, an expert from PAHO visited some facilities and offered a comprehensive report on the state of affairs at these facilities. There, it was pointed out that there was wastage of oxygen at some facilities.
The Minister recalled, “He said, ‘You’re wasting a lot of oxygen at some of these facilities…because of the pressure that you’re using in some of those lines. It’s too high, and therefore the volume that you’re expending is too much’. One simple thing like that, putting the right amount of pressure in the system, can change outcomes and save millions of dollars as well.”
The Health Minister contended that the intention is to use the content of the report to fix loopholes and flaws in the current system.
“We don’t want to be like what happens after a consultant would do their report…We want to make sure that if recommendations are there, that we work on those recommendations to fix the problems, so that we can enhance the services that we are providing. If we have persons that know what they’re doing, then a lot of the systems can be properly monitored and we can make some quick fixes, meaning that whatever systems we have would work better.”
Meanwhile, in order to extend the life of these machines, the Ministry is considering routine maintenance within the sector.
“On an annual basis, the Government of Guyana would spend millions and millions of dollars in equipment. Very often, within a year, a lot of these equipment, because of lack of maintenance (and) other issues, becomes obsolete. Sometimes, when we go out to procure equipment, if we don’t have the competence within the region, maybe we’re getting older models of these equipment; and therefore, when you start looking for the parts, it is problematic,” he added.
On the agenda is the standardisation of medical equipment used in the sector and prevention of ad hoc repairs to machines. (G12)