SRHA boosts customer service
Mandeville, Manchester — The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) says it is moving to improve customer service within its facilities.
According to a news release, the SRHA recently set up customer service units with a total of 18 employees.
SRHA Regional Director, Michael Bent said that the customer service representatives started work on October 5 at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester and the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon.
Others will be introduced in other hospitals and some health centres in the southern region at a later date, Bent said.
He explained that the officers would provide direct assistance to clients in various service areas while implementing systems for the effective management of each client. Other responsibilities include ensuring that patients with special needs are given the necessary support within established policies, and also monitoring of waiting time and impediments so as to intervene where possible.
Chairman of the Southern Regional Health Authority Board, Wayne Chen encouraged the customer service officers to provide superior service, noting that patients should be treated as customers and be shown empathy at all times.
“Health care is a calling. Too many of us see what we do as a job rather than a calling, as there is a big difference between the two. Recall what brought us into health care — was it to take care of people or was it just a job? Remember, customer service is not a department, it is an attitude. Let us be the change,” Chen said.
The customer service specialists received extensive orientation in areas including excellence in service; client complaints mechanism; social work in health; customer service; professional ethics; teamwork; accident and emergency services; and human resources policies and procedures.
Other initiatives that the SRHA has embarked on to improve the level of customer service within its hospitals and health centres include the training of staff at different levels in customer service and the implementation of a customer charter which aims to improve the quality of service offered by the hospitals, according to the news release.
