GPHC works to restore quality image

With a view to restoring its image, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has commenced a venture aimed at improving its staff-customer relations capabilities.  Spearheading the ambitious undertaking is the public health facility’s Quality Improvement Manager, Ms Yolanda Renville.
Speaking to this publication on Friday during the close of one of the many planned sessions, Renville said that the intention is to target every level of the hospital, from the doctors to the cleaners. This move, she explained, is not only geared at improving the quality of care offered by doctors and nurses in the various departments but rather from entry to the facility patients must see a pleasant attitude portrayed by each staffer they encounter.
Already three two-day sessions have been held in this regard with different groups of staffers.
“We have planned eight weeks of customer service training and we will complete them in the first week of September and then start on some other topics.”
The sessions are designed to zero-in on attitude, tone of voice, mode of dress, the spoken word and how to make it professional, non-verbal communication and the perception sent out by staffers, not only to patients but to their colleagues as well.
Facilitating the sessions is Mr Nicholas Corbin of the Gamaliel Academy, who, according to Renville, has tremendous experience in the area of customer relation training.
She said that he was recommended by name by several organisations including the Passport Office and the Public Service Ministry, both of which have already utilised his expert service.
“I was calling around to see who would be best for this type of training because we recognised that we needed somebody who was fresh and aware of what is happening in our health care setting, even to the extent of our challenges,” Renville said.
Ahead of formulating the strategic sessions, Corbin was provided with the needs assessment of the hospital and the findings of its satisfaction survey which aided his efforts to structure an ideal training programme.
But although the programme has been fully engaged, Renville noted that its impact is not expected to be fully realised just yet. According to her, there are plans for a subsequent focus group session, a process which will also be facilitated by Corbin.
“We are going to be assessing each participant but it’s not like we are going to be at a desk calling them and asking what you did…While we are going to be there monitoring them we will not be policing them to make them think that they have to behave in a certain way when we are around.”
She said that the introduction of suggestions boxes around the hospital is expected to aid the assessment process.  “We will be using them too to measure staffers’ performance therefore patients themselves will be helping us monitor the quality of the services offered by letting us know what needs improvement and what they actually like,” mentioned the Quality Manager.