Crackdown on care
Tufton targets negligent health workers after more than 1,000 patient complaints
SPURRED by more than 1,000 patient complaints in the Ministry of Health and Wellness’s Client Care Connect report, portfolio Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says efforts to expose system failures and hold negligent medical professionals accountable will intensify.
The move comes as the ministry prepares to publish its accountability data in September, which Tufton says highlighted various client complaints of poor communication, professional conduct, and overall patient experience.
“We’re looking to transform the health workforce. We are taking an inward look, recognising that a highly qualified health system cannot exist without sound governance, and that transformation requires effective leadership, which will be essential to managing the critical components of health.
“So when we speak about an accountability framework, it’s about delivering service with compassion, with empathy and, of course, ensuring that every patient is treated with dignity, respect, and fairness at every point of care,” said the minister as he delivered the keynote address at the Barry Wint Memorial Scholarship Awards Ceremony at S Hotel Kingston in St Andrew last Friday.
According to him, the report’s data aims to isolate departments and individuals responsible for poor patient experiences rather than allowing the failures of some to tarnish the reputation of the wider health-care system.
“Where there is a problem, we need to identify the institution, the department, and who is in charge. You have to start with all the names, because you can’t allow one bad apple to spoil the whole lot…Tell me where the worst experience takes place, the bad experience; tell me which department, and tell me who is in charge.
“And what leadership ought now to do is to address the specifics of a problem. Stop generalising the problem, because we’re letting down people who make sacrifices every day to do the work, and that’s a new modus operandi…People must play their part, and we must emphasise and insist on it, or they make way for someone else to do it,” charged Tufton.
The minister’s push for greater accountability comes amid heightened public scrutiny of the health-care system after the death of 33-year-old Kenise Dunn gained widespread media traction. The eight-month pregnant mother of three passed away at St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital five days post-delivery.
Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton greets Dr Barry Wint awardees (from left) Kerona Harvey, Nastassia Johnson, and Jemila Hastings. Photo: Garfield Robinson
When asked if his call for accountability extended to the contentious incident, Tufton told the Jamaica Observer that he cannot comment conclusively while the investigation is ongoing. Still, he emphasised that health-care professionals are always bound by a duty of care.
“What I’ve heard, preliminary, is that, clinically, there was a diagnosis of the problem, but it appears, based on some of the feedback — including from persons who are on the ward — that maybe the management of the customer care and the empathy to the patient may have been less than desired. Now, I don’t have the final report, so I prefer not to conclude on that,” he said.
“But the truth is drawn from what I said about the complaints report, the 1,000, which I spoke to, it’s quite clear that while we have excellent health workers, we have to work harder at delivering service with compassion and with empathy. And it’s not good enough to just have technical competence. If you treat people badly, if you don’t listen to them, if you don’t respond to them, if you don’t give them a sense of comfort when they’re in distress, then it hampers the healing process,” said the minister.
In the meantime, Tufton urged the 141 recipients of the Barry Wint medical grant, valued at over $190 million, to be the difference once they enter their respective fields of practice.
“I say this at the risk of offending some, that money is not the primary issue in health care, currently public health; the primary issue is how we conduct ourselves within the system. People who are in the system only for a pay cheque are not sufficiently willing to give the commitment and show care. You cannot afford to be like that. You have to show a better way, and that’s what Barry Wint is investing in. Not just in your capacity as a technical and competent person, but in moving the process forward,” the minister said.
Pointing to what he identified as the major weaknesses of the system, Tufton noted that health care in Jamaica lacks a sufficient number of practitioners — specifically specialised individuals — and professionals with the capacity to show empathy to patients. He reiterated that that was not the type of behaviour that he expected from recipients of the Barry Wint scholarship, and challenged them to become “a catalyst for change”.
“If you just want to be a nurse, a doctor, a biotech engineer because at the end of the month you’re going to get a fat pay cheque, and that’s the only driving motivation to apply and to pretty up the application for this money, do not accept it. There are too many people in the profession who see the profession only in financial terms, and not enough as a passion and commitment to enhance service delivery for those who need it, Jamaicans who are in distress,” he said firmly.
