“Sandals Foundation and Catherine Cecilia Foundation gifts learning and play resources to schools”

View the full post Strengthening the power of play on NOW Grenada.

Barbados needs a sustainable healthcare financing plan, given the significant issues plaguing the sector, says Minister of Health, Senator The Most Honourable Dr Jerome Walcott.

And that plan, he said on Tuesday, could potentially result in the Government broadening the tax system from which healthcare is partially funded.

He made the disclosure on day one of the four-day International Review of Health Financing Reform Options in Barbados at the Hilton Hotel.

During the event, hosted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the Pan American Health Organisation, Minister Walcott said the island’s healthcare system was under strain and there was a need for a sustainable reformative framework.

“ . . . Several challenges still remain. These include an ageing population, with over 13 per cent above the age of 65, an increasing presence of non-communicable diseases, the occurrence of new and reemerging communicable diseases, the rise in injuries due to accidents and unlawful behaviour, the public’s expectations of services on par with industrialised countries and an ageing QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hospital] plant and other health infrastructure.

“In these circumstances, we found the current model of health financing has become a pressing priority due to the increasing cost of public health care services in Barbados caused by a combination of demand and supply side factors,” he said.

The Health Minister said Barbados was committed to achieving universal health services and delivering quality health services, noting that the island had adopted the Beveridge model.

Under that model, he explained, the Government provides health care for all citizens which is financed from the Consolidated Fund and a health levy collected by the National Insurance Scheme.

“Any decline in the revenue intake of Government would be reflected in a reduced allocation to the health sector, hence, an important part of the search for a new model of health financing,” Minister Walcott said.

He added that the Government would consider all options to ensure it can provide quality services, including adjusting the tax collection system.

“There is also a need to strengthen domestic tax systems and ensure that health remains a priority in resources being allocated. This is not a unique role of the health sector; therefore, there is need for a whole-of-government approach to include other sectors and ministries such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the intimate working group we have established to garner support from the other strategic partners both locally and overseas,” he said.

The Health Minister pointed out that the health sector played a significant role in the development of the economy, as it creates jobs, drives productivity, stimulates inclusive growth and protects the economy from the impacts of outbreaks and other emergencies.

That is why, he said, it was important for the island to invest in building a resilient health system based on strong primary health care.

Referencing the World Health Report in 2010, Minister Walcott said that 20 to 40 per cent of global resources allocated to health care were being wasted, noting that the report emphasised the need to promote efficiency.

He said Barbados was taking the necessary steps to ensure it ran its healthcare sector efficiently by engaging the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus in carrying out a study to develop programme unit costs.

Other initiatives to address inefficiencies include significant improvement in the regulatory functions, strategic and effective purchasing of health inputs, comprehensive review and improvement of human practices, and effective separation of regulatory functions from the provisions of services where appropriate.

Barbados is also taking other steps such as strengthening health information systems, reforming the Barbados Drug Service and implementing performance reviews and development systems.

Minister Walcott said that based on additional health financing work conducted last November, there were four key highlights that must inform the development of a proper health finance framework for Barbados.

He said health financing must assist in controlling morbidity; medical services and other service delivery systems must be geared toward the effective utilisation of best practices to ensure efficient use of scarce resources; equity of access must become a reality within the healthcare system as the population must be shielded from catastrophic healthcare expenditure; and resilience must be built into the healthcare system, given prospects of natural disasters and pandemics affecting the Caribbean.

The Health Minister said those events had the potential to cripple the economy and an emergency fund must be developed. (SZB)

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“Offering this free service in St David is important because of the number of Grenadians living with this chronic non-communicable disease”

View the full post St David: Free Diabetes Clinic on NOW Grenada.

View the full post CT Scan and Dialysis fees from EC$125 to EC$3,500 on NOW Grenada.

Care Transition Clinic has been in operation for the past 2 years and offers services that have positively impacted patients' health

View the full post Care Transition Clinic reduces hospital re-admissions on NOW Grenada.

The rains facilitate the spread of the transmitting mosquito, Aedes aegypti, according to a report published last weekend by the National Directorate of Epidemiology, which corresponds to epidemiological week number 43 (EW 43), which records 8,340 accumulated cases and 43 deaths, compared to 2,436 cases and 21 deaths in the same period last year. EW 43 collects from October 23 to Saturday 29 of the same month, so rains recorded on consecutive days, as well as those generated by the deluge of last November 4, when the Dominican capital was flooded, are excluded. As a result, experts advise families to take preventive measures and seek medical attention if symptoms such as fever, headaches, bone pain, pain behind the eyes and joints, loss of appetite, and decay occur.

Dengue fever affects 66% of those under the age of 19, with the capital being the hardest hit, followed by Azua, Bahoruco, and Barahona. To date, 185 cases of leptospirosis, which is commonly transmitted by water contaminated with the urine of infected animals, particularly rats, have been reported, with nine cases detected in EW 43 and 22 deaths. The figures are lower than last year, when 29 people died from this cause.

Malaria cases were confirmed during EW 43, four of which correspond to the San Juan de la Maguana focus, two imported from Africa, and one from Azua. “Until this week, cases totaled 290, corresponding to 71% (205/290) of the cases, due to the active focus of San Juan… The Ministry of Public Health maintains an active community search for feverish people, treatment, and investigation of identified cases,” the report states.

2 new positive cases; 18 active cases
0 new deaths; 0 new recoveries
38,975 fully vaccinated

View the full post Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 9 November 2022 on NOW Grenada.

Some Barbados Community College (BCC) students struggled to cope in the online learning environment during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and had to seek help for mental health issues.

That disclosure came from principal Annette Alleyne who said that when most classes were conducted online due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the BCC management had received increased reports from the institution’s Counselling and Placement Centre about students with mental health challenges.

She said it was also noted in BCC Registrar Roger Worrell’s report that the number of students requesting extended studies had doubled between 2020 and 2021.

“It was unusual. A large number of students were asking for extended studies – another year and another semester – because some of them chose to defer from various programmes. In some instances where we had students doing clinicals, they couldn’t get into the sites to do their clinicals. But in a number of cases, the students had chosen to defer some of their programmes,” Alleyne said at BCC’s Convocation Ceremony.

“And then when students did their portfolio for the visual arts and so on, a number of . . . their pieces showed the struggle some of them had with anxiety, with loneliness, depression, etc. So we knew that it was a concern for the students during the online period and that is why we have made such a great push to have students come back face-to-face.”

She added that the Students Guild had also hosted a Mental Health Week focused on issues affecting the student body.

“[They] had various initiatives and activities that could help to alleviate some of the stressors that they were experiencing,” Alleyne explained.

The principal highlighted research conducted in the United States which indicated that students who experienced mental health challenges during the pandemic appeared to be ‘quiet quitting’ – that is, doing just enough to complete their studies and not going the extra mile.

However, Alleyne cautioned the new students that the “just enough and no more” attitude had serious repercussions in an extremely competitive world, as she told them that those who gave more were the ones who excelled and succeeded.

“If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, loneliness, there is help, ask for help. Join a club, form a study group, reach out to our Counselling and Placement Centre; there is help. If you are struggling with mental health challenges, do not be one of the one-third of college students who are quiet quitting,” she said.

The BCC principal also put the newcomers on notice that the excitement and euphoria they felt at the start of their college journey would eventually fade and they might begin to feel exhausted and even question why they were there.

“And it is at these times when you need your community, a friend, a study group, someone to be able to give a word of encouragement. And our theme for this year, One Community, Working Together, Achieving Together, becomes even more appropriate.

“Life will throw things at you – a pandemic, an ashfall, a hurricane, some weird weather patterns where roofs get blown off and so on, the unexpected loss of a friend or loved one, betrayal, these things happen in life. But what it is that will keep you going and keep you firm in the face of any of these adversaries will be your sense of purpose and what it is that you want to achieve,” Alleyne said. (AH)

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Speaking on Starcom’s Down To Brass Tacks call-in radio programme on Friday, Gooding-Edghill said he has met with the hospital’s senior leadership team along with the Minister of State responsible for QEH affairs Dr Sonia Browne, to review an Accident and Emergency Improvement Plan.

“What we will need though, is some additional resources and we are working on those resources. I have a follow-up meeting with the A&E leadership team and that will happen very shortly. But we have to remove some of the administrative functions and burdens from the doctors to allow the doctors in A&E to focus exclusively on [clinical duties],” he said.

“There are instances sometimes where a doctor may have to go and fetch information, a doctor may have to go and source some additional medical resources in order to execute and perform a task. That’s what I meant by some of the administrative stuff,” the Health Minister explained.

He told his radio audience that authorities are trying to work through that and are fine-tuning the improvement plan.

“Once we do that, we would also be in a better position … to give them some additional resources. For example, in terms of how you run and manage an ER. One of the things I think we will have to look at is the whole management of the ER itself and how that is administered. If you can take away some of those non-critical functions from doctors and have personnel focusing on those other areas, it would free up some of the time available for the doctors to do what they have to do,” Gooding-Edghill suggested.

He said when he reviewed the plan, it was exciting even as he engaged with the team.

“We have a plan to address minor cases that present to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I have indicated before that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is a place for reassurance. In my experience there, when people are feeling unwell, they go to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for immediate treatment. They go to the A&E for example, as the first stop, because if they can’t afford to go to a private care facility, they would come to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and that is where they have the best treatment, and they know the best treatment would be given to them,” the Health Minister contended.

He noted that even though A&E is an emergency facility, a patient with pain in some part of their body is not concerned about whether it’s urgent, they just want care and therefore go to the QEH.

“So therefore what we have to do, is to implement within the Accident and Emergency Department, a Minor Cases Unit, which would allow for example, patients to be fast-tracked based on the urgency of the cases they present and also that they present to the A&E department,” he announced.

“The Minor Cases Unit will also be suitable for patients. For example, if there is an injury that may require some resources from the hospital, of course they would go to the hospital. If there are other injuries for example, that are non-life or limb-threatening injuries, then obviously, the Minor Cases Unit can deal with those,” the Minister said.

Gooding-Edghill provided data to show the level of traffic that continues to pass through the A&E.

“The Accident and Emergency Department in 2019 registered 37,660 patient visits, 46 per cent of those patients that visited in 2019, accounted for hospital admissions. The remainder obviously were dealt with and discharged. Now in 2020, interestingly enough and obviously because of COVID and so on, there was a reduction. 29,667 patients would have visited the Accident and Emergency, and 49 per cent of the total were admitted. So, those statistics alone tell me very clearly that not every visit to the A&E would require hospitalisation,” the Minister of Health said.

“The issue here for Barbadians is the time that they have to spend waiting in A&E. And if we continue to improve the processes, I think that we will definitely see some improvement,” he said.

He also said that a Patient Relations Service, which is at the pilot stage, is currently in operation at A&E and on some wards, but will be expanded across the hospital in due course.

Gooding-Edghill also announced that the hospital would soon be measuring patient satisfaction based on a structured feedback system. He said too that having completed phases one and two of the A&E expansion project, the third phase is currently in the works. (EJ)

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Health authorities have announced an initiative to address the eye surgery backlog at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and they are hoping to show significant progress in three months.

Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill told a Down To Brass Tacks radio talk show on Starcom Network on Friday that he is on a mission to cut the number of patients waiting for cataract surgeries and to improve care in the shortest possible time.

The minister promised to monitor the situation over the next three months, assuring the public that if the numbers did not reach the targeted level, he would turn to the Cubans for additional manpower. He said when he took up the ministry, there were 1,750 patients waiting for cataract surgery, but after meeting with the Department of Opthalmology, he was assured the backlog had started to be reduced.

“On a monthly basis, I am requesting the number of surgeries being performed on the patients with cataracts. The information I will give you will be at September 12. We have conducted 34 public surgeries. Those were surgeries that were performed.

“Back in July there were 68 completed and in August, the number was a bit lower, 34, but there were issues related to doctors with COVID and therefore they couldn’t operate. What has been provided to us is that the opthamologists are prepared to do at least 95 cases per month,” Gooding-Edghill said. He noted that the eye specialists had experienced some challenges with the equipment, almost all of which have now been resolved.

“We have had to source additional packs. These are packs that are used for cataract surgeries, and we are expected to receive 120 from Trinidad and Tobago and another 300 from a local supplier this week,” he revealed.

Gooding-Edghill also said he had directed the QEH to ensure it has at least 750 packs to ensure that there are no delays in surgery due to the unavailability of such packs.

“We have also identified additional space at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital that can be easily retrofitted to allow for more surgeries to be performed,” he told his radio audience. “We are taking steps to bring this on stream. But I can tell you we are committed to reducing the backlog without compromising other eye surgeries,” the minister said.

He disclosed that the plan also involves increasing the number of nurses so that cataract procedures can be done in the morning and in the afternoon.

“In the longer term, we will also have to look at another theatre. We are working on that. But our immediate goal is to clear the backlog of cataract surgeries, and I give you the assurance that I will be monitoring progress on a monthly basis,” he pointed out.

“There has to be a high sense of urgency in dealing with the cataract because obviously, it can lead to blindness,” he added.

“We will ensure that the doctors have the equipment and they have the necessary resources. But at the same time, we have to measure progress because if we still have a population asking and people complaining that they can’t get the surgeries, then we have to have plan B.

“So plan B is an opportunity to seek assistance where required and if necessary,” the minister pointed out. “What I will do is that I will monitor the monthly reports, I will see where we are going over the next three months in respect of the number of surgeries performed.

“Obviously, if we hit the target, everything is a home run as they say in baseball. If that doesn’t happen, I must tell you that I will have to continue discussions with the Cuban Ambassador with a view of obviously having additional resources to mobilise to get to Barbados,” he disclosed.

Emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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