Employees of the Health Authority of Anguilla from the top, to the lowest positions of the service, have been urged to put their words into action by ensuring that they deliver the highest level of quality care and patient safety possible.
The call has come from Dr Bonnie Richardson-Lake, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development. “The Ministry of Health and, by extension the Government of Anguilla, has a very important role to play in ensuring patient safety and the delivery of quality health care in Anguilla,” she stressed. “But so too does each of us… I encourage each of you to work in partnership with us in delivering the highest level of health care possible. Remember, ‘concern for patient safety and quality of care, which is sincerely held and repeatedly expressed, but nevertheless is not carried through into action, is as much protection from needless patient deaths, harm and dissatisfaction as no concern at all.’Let us ensure that we act on our words.”
Dr Richardson-Lake was at the time delivering opening remarks at a Quality Management System Workshop & Consultation on the Anguilla’s National Health Services Quality Policy. The event, sponsored by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), was held at the Anguilla Community College on Thursday, November 14.
“The Government of Anguilla realises that quality fosters both excellence and economic survival, and is achieved through compliance with defined specifications and standards,” she continued. “The Ministry of Health has a powerful role in organising the body of professionals, institutions, purchasers and consumer groups interested in quality which should shape the accountability of the health services by the following:developing a set of objectives; developing a series of indicators which will monitor the achievement of the policy aims, health outcomes and population satisfaction; mandating uniform performance measurement and disclosure; developing (minimum) standards with emphasis on improvement; developing a structure of certification requirements and participating in performance improvement activities.
“To improve and maintain the quality of health services in Anguilla, a comprehensive system of Total Quality Management will be developed. This approach will be established through the Directorate of Health Services Quality Management and the Health Sector Quality Council (National Steering Team) at the Ministry of Health. It will focus on a formal mechanism for effective networking with management units in the public and private sectors; the establishment and implementation of a Quality Award System as the driving force behind quality and continuous improvement, and the establishment and monitoring of a client feedback mechanism.
“I think the take home message here is the delivery of quality health care means improved patient safety, and I am sure that no one here will argue the importance of that.”
During the workshop, Ms Katrina Smith, Country Programme Specialist with PAHO, presented an overview of PAHO/WHO Quality Initiatives and the 21 health targets in the Caribbean and the Americas. The others who spoke on Anguilla’s Health Services Quality Policy, and related matters, were Mrs Alma Hughes, Senior Health Services Quality Officer; Mrs Serene Carter-Davis, retired Chief Nursing Officer; and Mrs Alicia Haywood, Acting Director of Nursing Services.
