BVI Health Minister Ronnie Skelton has said The BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) is continuing its efforts to strengthen the public and private healthcare system in the territory through a series of initiatives.
According to him, several initiatives have already been implemented to improve the quality of care to BVI patients and customer service in general is being improved. Skelton also is reported in the BVI press as having said that the “Pharmaceutical Unit is in the final stages of developing the BVIHSA formulary, which will improve the availability of essential and new medicines in the territory.”
In addition, the Minister, while addressing the House of Assembly, said that the authority is currently conducting “a full assessment project to improve all services offered to patients.”
“These CME sessions are critical Madam Speaker as new medical treatment methods and techniques develop….these sessions will allow the medical team to obtain relevant and current information to strengthen the medical services offered at BVIHSA,” Skelton said.
The minister said that the pharmaceutical unit will be aided with all the necessary frameworks to assist in the appropriate budgeting for medication. He also said that CME (Continued Medical Education) sessions will be resumed in an effort to keep BVIHSA medical staff continuously trained.
Skelton indicate that in the said that Professor E. Walrond was conducting training on Ethics and Ethical issues in the health industry while training for asthma care was already conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service.
The reports indicate that the Minister also spoke about newly established Quality Improvement Unit, which he said was designed to “assess and improve the quality of services provided across the BVIHSA, as well as a Risk Manager to review all complaints and any sentinel events added to strengthen this Unit”.
“This allows for immediate mitigation and correction of any incident as needed,” he said.
“The BVIHSA is working towards being the leader in the dissemination of medical education in the territory and efforts are now underway to have the educational sessions accredited by the local Medical Council,’ he added.
