may 2014 - ministry of health and medical services | shaping … pages/health page 22nd … ·  ·...

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COMPILED BY SUNIL.C, MEDIA LIAISON OFFICER MOH HEADQUARTERS. P: 3314988 M: 8905053 Miniistry of Health - Fiji facebook.com/MoHFiji www.health.gov. Healthy Living FIJI’S MINISTER FOR HEALTH IS NEW VICE CHAIR OF THE 67TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY The advancement in Health Technology, Health Care, , improved Health Service Delivery, and Fiji’s continued engagement in the international arena of medicine to provide the best possible medical care for the country has now paid dividends with the appointment of the Honorable Minister for Health in Fiji as the new Vice Chair of the 67th World Health Assembly in Geneva. Dr Neil Sharma, the Minister of Health in Fiji, was nominated ahead of many other Asian and Pacific countries for the position of Vice Chairperson. of the World Health Assembly (WHA) Dr Neil Sharma is now selected to represent the Western Pacific Regional Office. This position has been granted in recognition of the Health Ministers international standing for diligence and vision in healthcare. Apart from this ,the progress in development that is happening here in Fiji and the health strengthening processors that has been taking place at different levels within the Ministry of Health has placed Fiji in a comfortable bargaining position for the Western Pacific Region in its new position as the Vice Chair of WHA Fiji as a developing country has yet again been able to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in terms of addressing and reducing child mortality and improving maternal health in Fiji to name a few. A lot of hard work has transpired over the past 5 years , not only on major health reforms but also in the development of health policies, medical infrastructure, medical equipment and medical technology and human resource. Meanwhile, Dr Sharma chaired a session where discussions on climate change, health impacts, communicable diseases (CD) and non-communicable diseases were on the agenda. HEALTH MINISTRY EXTENDS NCD MOBILE BUS SERVICES TO THE NORTHERN DIVISION The Health Ministry continues to ensure that its health services are extended throughout the region. This has been further boosted as the TISI Sangam donated $50,000 to the Health Ministry towards the establishment of a non communicable disease (NCD) mobile bus service in the northern division. TISI Sangam National President Mr Sada Sivam Naicker handed over the donation the Health Minster Dr Neil Sharma. The need to have a NCD mobile bus was necessary taking into consideration the widely spread geographical location of communities in the northern division. This donation will be used towards the purchase of a fully equipped medical bus which will be used to provide health outreach programs in remote areas. These programs include both public health and clinical outreaches to those communities who have sparse access to health services. These services may include dental, special outpatient, outpatient, surgical, pediatric and other clinical services. The availability of such mobile clinics enhances public health strategies targeted at community health development and preventive action for better health outcomes. The Health Ministry in partnership with organizations like the TISI Sangam is committed to improving health service access for all communities in Fiji. Apart from this the mobile bus will provide TISI Sangam School of Nursing students the opportunity to serve communities in the North and initiate their social, ethical and medical responsibility towards the people they will serve as full fledged practitioners. The Health Ministry continues to provide the best medical services to the disadvantaged and poor people. This is aligned to Pillar 10 of the People Charter for Change where the Health Ministry is committed to equitable health access for all targeting poverty as a social determinant of health. Dr Neil Sharma said “such donations are welcomed and we thank the TISI Sangam organization for the generous and timely assistance which will go a long way towards improving health service delivery in the north”. Meanwhile the NCD mobile bus has provided such services to almost 5000 people in the Lautoka/Yasawa, Nadi and Rewa subdivision in the past year. ELITE NURSING SQUAD INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE NURSING PRACTICE The Ministry of Health in its focus to continuously improve professionalism and ethics in the nursing practice has embarked in forming an Elite Nursing Squad. The main objective to form such a group is to adequately train a cohort of nurses who will role model the concept of professionalism and ethical practice in the delivery of nursing services. This initiative is also envisaged to address patient complaints more effectively and allow for better response to patient needs. To date over 80 nurses have been trained in the three (3) divisional hospitals and a number of sub-divisional hospitals in the country. 25 nurses have been trained for CWMH and Central Division, 30 for Lautoka Hospital and Western Division and 25 for Labasa Hospital and the Northern Division. The duration of training is 3 days in average. Its content basically covers Professionalism & Ethics, Psychology, Service Excellence and Customer Care. These trained officers are deployed to various units and wards in the three divisional hospitals to influence their colleagues on these pertinent nursing concepts and are the major nursing support cohort to our Overseas Visiting teams. Resource personnel in the likes of Judge Nazhat Shameem and former USP academia & psychologist, Prof Roland Schultz and Service Excellence trainer Mr Shaukat Ali provide an outstanding prestige to the training package. There is intention to continue future trainings and evaluate its impact on nursing practice and patient care. BASIC FOOD HANDLERS TRAINING FOR FOOD HANDLERS A Basic Food Handlers Training was conducted at Fiji Beach Resort & Spa from 6-8th May 2014. 91 staff involved in food preparation and food handling were trained. The training included topics on Food Safety, Personal Hygiene, Food borne Illnesses and Good Hygiene Practices. Such trainings improve the knowledge and skills of food handlers in terms of espousing good hygiene practices and safe food handling. The commitment was shown by the resort and training conducted by the Food Control Unit staff SAHI Nemani Matanimeke and SAHI Ravinesh Chetty. All participants were required to sit a post training quiz to qualify for a certificate. Only those participants who attained final passing grade and above were issued with a Certificate of Attainment valid for a year. All those who scored below passing grade will be required to re-sit the training and final quiz. This is done to ensure a more effective training and simultaneously increase standards and build capacity towards safe food handlers. A follow up training will be conducted with the remaining food handlers soon. Training of all new and those food handlers who have not undergone this training is mandatory under the Food Safety Act, Schedule 4, Section 25. Any non-compliance can lead to food establishments or food handlers being prosecuted. FMF FOODS LIMITED DONATES BISCUITS TO HEALTH’S FIJI NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES Fiji National blood services (FNBS) has been boosted with the timely donation of biscuits from the Flour Mills of Fiji (FMF. These biscuits will to be given out to blood donors throughout the country. Group marketing Manager for FMF, Ms Poonam Kritika, will hand over the first donation of biscuits to Mr Josefa Bolaqace. FNBS have been tirelessly working to keep the blood banks filled and as such encourages timely blood donations from people as this will contribute towards saving many lives. Recruiting blood donors is an ongoing activity with about 50 blood donors needed every day to keep the Blood Banks in Fiji full and blood available for every patient who needs it. FNBS and FMF want to encourage people who are fit and healthy to become regular voluntary blood donors and save lives. The Blood Donor bus will be at FMF premises from 9am to 4 or 5pm today for staff to donate blood The World Health Organisation estimates that the number of blood donations needed in a country every year is equal to 2 percent of the population. The number of blood donations in Fiji, as a percentage of the population, has increased from 0.9% in 2005 to 1.4% last year which is a positive sign but much more is needed. Mr Josefa Bolaqace National Coordinator of Blood Services said “We would love more people to become voluntary blood donors and I encourage anyone who wants to know more about blood donation to look at the Ministry of Health website or ask a question on the Facebook page”. HEALTH: NEW NURSING CADRE TO BOOST NURSING CARE The Health Ministry in its commitment to improve health services around the country has introduced a new nursing cadre namely the Enrolled Nurses. Enrolled nurses will assist registered nurses in delivering nursing care and health education to including people in various community settings. Enrolled nurses will contribute to nursing assessments; care planning, implementation and evaluation of care for the clients. Whilst the Registered Nurse maintains overall responsibility for the plan of care, Enrolled Nurses will assist clients with activities of daily living (ADL), observe changes in condition and report these changes to the registered nurses and will also undertake other nursing care responsibilities appropriate to their assessed competence and as directed. The program is a one year non-residential and self-funded course which will be delivered by the 2 nursing education institutions. Fiji National University (FNU) via its College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, the TISI Sangam School of Nursing in Labasa and the Health Ministry. The minimum entry criteria for this course are a pass in FSLC with 250 marks, a pass in English, Biology and another science subject. Applicant must possess good communication and people skills. Other attributes including compassion, care, dedication, commitment etc would be of great advantage. Having this new nursing cadre in place will allow the Registered Nurse to spend more quality time with the patents in the administration of treatment, regular assessment & evaluation of patient’s response to treatment regimes, improved communication with patients, rehabilitation & discharge planning with patients and their caregivers (relatives) and ensuring that the overall health outcomes of the patients is achieved. Meanwhile major reforms have been made to the health service delivery with additional human resources to ensure that health services in Fiji are delivering excellent customer services. Recently customer care representatives have been established at the divisional hospitals to guide and assist patients and relatives through hospital facilities. SAHYADRI MEDICAL TEAM CONDUCT KNEE AND JOINT SURGERIES The Ministry of health in conjunction with the Sahyadri Speciality Pacific Hospitals Limited are jointly coordinating super specialty program in Orthopeadic such as joint replacement and arthoscopy at Lautoka Hospital which began from 19th of this month. This program is the initiative of the Ministry of health to bring specialized health service in the country as it becomes too expensive for our locals to travel overseas for treatment. Well known doctors from Sahyadri group of hospitals have been conducting screenings and operations which will be carried out for the next ten days. The Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma has initiated health sector development for the benefit of the public at large. Bringing these services to Fiji involves a lot of hard work with high costs involved but the Ministry puts the life of the people the top priority. Professor Manumuni Bhargav said that the group will also train the local staff to ensure that local medical personal are familiar with the latest equipment brought in by the Sahyadri group. As these services are not available in Fiji currently, good responses from the public are seen. The Health Ministry believes that private Public partnership eases the burden of the health sector and people are encouraged to take the maximum benefits of such arrangements. May 2014

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COMPILED BY SUNIL.C, MEDIA LIAISON OFFICERMOH HEADQUARTERS. P: 3314988 M: 8905053

Miniistry of Health - Fijifacebook.com/MoHFiji www.health.gov.fjH e a l t h y L i v i n g

FIJI’S MINISTER FOR HEALTH IS NEW VICE CHAIR OF THE 67TH WORLD HEALTH

ASSEMBLYThe advancement in Health

Technology, Health Care, , improved Health Service Delivery, and Fiji’s continued engagement in the international arena of medicine to provide the best possible medical care for the country has now paid dividends with the appointment of the Honorable Minister for Health in Fiji as the new Vice Chair of the 67th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Dr Neil Sharma, the Minister of Health in Fiji, was nominated

ahead of many other Asian and Pacific countries for the position of Vice Chairperson. of the World Health Assembly (WHA)

Dr Neil Sharma is now selected to represent the Western Pacific Regional Office.

This position has been granted in recognition of the Health Ministers international standing for diligence and vision in healthcare. Apart from this ,the progress in development that is happening here in Fiji and the health strengthening processors that has been taking place at different levels within the Ministry of Health has placed Fiji in a comfortable bargaining position for the Western Pacific Region in its new position as the Vice Chair of WHA

Fiji as a developing country has yet again been able to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in terms of addressing and reducing child mortality and improving maternal health in Fiji to name a few.

A lot of hard work has transpired over the past 5 years , not only on major health reforms but also in the development of health policies, medical infrastructure, medical equipment and medical technology and human resource.

Meanwhile, Dr Sharma chaired a session where discussions on climate change, health impacts, communicable diseases (CD) and non-communicable diseases were on the agenda.

HEALTH MINISTRY EXTENDS NCD MOBILE BUS SERVICES TO THE NORTHERN

DIVISIONThe Health Ministry continues to ensure that its health services are

extended throughout the region.

This has been further boosted as the TISI Sangam donated $50,000 to the Health Ministry towards the establishment of a non communicable disease (NCD) mobile bus service in the northern division. TISI Sangam National President Mr Sada Sivam Naicker handed over the donation the Health Minster Dr Neil Sharma.

The need to have a NCD mobile bus was necessary taking into consideration the widely spread geographical location of communities in the northern division.

This donation will be used towards the purchase of a fully equipped medical bus which will be used to provide health outreach programs in remote areas. These programs include both public health and clinical outreaches to those communities who have sparse access to health services.

These services may include dental, special outpatient, outpatient, surgical, pediatric and other clinical services. The availability of such mobile clinics enhances public health strategies targeted at community health development and preventive action for better health outcomes.

The Health Ministry in partnership with organizations like the TISI Sangam is committed to improving health service access for all communities in Fiji.

Apart from this the mobile bus will provide TISI Sangam School of Nursing students the opportunity to serve communities in the North and initiate their social, ethical and medical responsibility towards the people they will serve as full fledged practitioners.

The Health Ministry continues to provide the best medical services to the disadvantaged and poor people. This is aligned to Pillar 10 of the People Charter for Change where the Health Ministry is

committed to equitable health access for all targeting poverty as a social determinant of health.

Dr Neil Sharma said “such donations are welcomed and we thank the TISI Sangam organization for the generous and timely assistance which will go a long way towards improving health service delivery in the north”.

Meanwhile the NCD mobile bus has provided such services to almost 5000 people in the Lautoka/Yasawa, Nadi and Rewa subdivision in the past year.

ELITE NURSING SQUAD INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE NURSING PRACTICE

The Ministry of Health in its focus to continuously improve professionalism and ethics in the nursing practice has embarked in forming an Elite Nursing Squad.

The main objective to form such a group is to adequately train a cohort of nurses who will role model the concept of professionalism and ethical practice in the delivery of nursing services. This initiative is also envisaged to address patient complaints more effectively and allow for better response to patient needs.

To date over 80 nurses have been trained in the three (3) divisional hospitals and a number of sub-divisional hospitals in the country. 25 nurses have been trained for CWMH and Central Division, 30 for Lautoka Hospital and Western Division and 25 for Labasa Hospital and the Northern Division. The duration of training is 3 days in average.

Its content basically covers Professionalism & Ethics, Psychology, Service Excellence and Customer Care. These trained officers are deployed to various units and wards in the three divisional hospitals to influence their colleagues on these pertinent nursing concepts and are the major nursing support cohort to our Overseas Visiting teams.

Resource personnel in the likes of Judge Nazhat Shameem and former USP academia & psychologist, Prof Roland Schultz and Service Excellence trainer Mr Shaukat Ali provide an outstanding prestige to the training package.

There is intention to continue future trainings and evaluate its impact on nursing practice and patient care.

BASIC FOOD HANDLERS TRAINING FOR FOOD HANDLERS

A Basic Food Handlers Training was conducted at Fiji Beach Resort & Spa from 6-8th May 2014. 91 staff involved in food preparation and food handling were trained. The training included topics on Food Safety, Personal Hygiene, Food borne Illnesses and Good Hygiene Practices. Such trainings improve the knowledge and skills of food handlers in terms of espousing good hygiene practices and safe food handling.

The commitment was shown by the resort and training conducted by the Food Control Unit staff SAHI Nemani Matanimeke and SAHI Ravinesh Chetty. All participants were required to sit a post training quiz to qualify for a certificate. Only those participants who attained final passing grade and above were issued with a Certificate of Attainment valid for a year. All those who scored below passing grade will be required to re-sit the training and final quiz. This is done to ensure a more effective training and simultaneously increase standards and build capacity towards safe food handlers.

A follow up training will be conducted with the remaining food handlers soon. Training of all new and those food handlers who have not undergone this training is mandatory under the Food Safety Act, Schedule 4, Section 25. Any non-compliance can lead to food establishments or food handlers being prosecuted.

FMF FOODS LIMITED DONATES BISCUITS TO HEALTH’S FIJI NATIONAL BLOOD

SERVICES

Fiji National blood services (FNBS) has been boosted with the timely donation of biscuits from the Flour Mills of Fiji (FMF. These biscuits will to be given out to blood donors throughout the country.

Group marketing Manager for FMF, Ms Poonam Kritika, will hand over the first donation of biscuits to Mr Josefa Bolaqace.

FNBS have been tirelessly working to keep the blood banks filled and as such encourages timely blood donations from people as this will contribute towards saving many lives.

Recruiting blood donors is an ongoing activity with about 50 blood donors needed every day to keep the Blood Banks in Fiji full and blood available for every patient who needs it.

FNBS and FMF want to encourage people who are fit and healthy to become regular voluntary blood donors and save lives. The Blood Donor bus will be at FMF premises from 9am to 4 or 5pm today for staff to donate blood

The World Health Organisation estimates that the number of blood donations needed in a country every year is equal to 2 percent of the population. The number of blood donations in Fiji, as a percentage of the population, has increased from 0.9% in 2005 to 1.4% last year which is a positive sign but much more is needed.

Mr Josefa Bolaqace National Coordinator of Blood Services said “We would love more people to become voluntary blood donors and I encourage anyone who wants to know more about blood donation to look at the Ministry of Health website or ask a question on the Facebook page”.

HEALTH: NEW NURSING CADRE TO BOOST NURSING CARE

The Health Ministry in its commitment to improve health services around the country has introduced a new nursing cadre namely the Enrolled Nurses.

Enrolled nurses will assist registered nurses in delivering nursing care and health education to including people in various community settings.

Enrolled nurses will contribute to nursing assessments; care planning, implementation and evaluation of care for the clients. Whilst the Registered Nurse maintains overall responsibility for the plan of care, Enrolled Nurses will assist clients with activities of daily living (ADL), observe changes in condition and report these changes to the registered nurses and will also undertake other nursing care responsibilities appropriate to their assessed competence and as directed.

The program is a one year non-residential and self-funded course which will be delivered by the 2 nursing education institutions. Fiji National University (FNU) via its College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, the TISI Sangam School of Nursing in Labasa and the Health Ministry.

The minimum entry criteria for this course are a pass in FSLC with 250 marks, a pass in English, Biology and another science subject. Applicant must possess good communication and people skills. Other attributes including compassion, care, dedication, commitment etc would be of great advantage.

Having this new nursing cadre in place will allow the Registered Nurse to spend more quality time with the patents in the administration of treatment, regular assessment & evaluation of patient’s response to treatment regimes, improved communication with patients, rehabilitation & discharge planning with patients and their caregivers (relatives) and ensuring that the overall health outcomes of the patients is achieved.

Meanwhile major reforms have been made to the health service delivery with additional human resources to ensure that health services in Fiji are delivering excellent customer services. Recently customer care representatives have been established at the divisional hospitals to guide and assist patients and relatives through hospital facilities.

SAHYADRI MEDICAL TEAM CONDUCT KNEE AND JOINT SURGERIES

The Ministry of health in conjunction with the Sahyadri Speciality Pacific Hospitals Limited are jointly coordinating super specialty program in Orthopeadic such as joint replacement and arthoscopy at Lautoka Hospital which began from 19th of this month.

This program is the initiative of the Ministry of health to bring specialized health service in the country as it becomes too expensive for our locals to travel overseas for treatment.

Well known doctors from Sahyadri group of hospitals have been conducting screenings and operations which will be carried out for the next ten days.

The Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma has initiated health sector development for the benefit of the public at large.

Bringing these services to Fiji involves a lot of hard work with high costs involved but the Ministry puts the life of the people the top priority.

Professor Manumuni Bhargav said that the group will also train the local staff to ensure that local medical personal are familiar with the latest equipment brought in by the Sahyadri group.

As these services are not available in Fiji currently, good responses from the public are seen.

The Health Ministry believes that private Public partnership eases the burden of the health sector and people are encouraged to take the maximum benefits of such arrangements.

May 2014