The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Insurance Association Chairman Emmanuel Komolafe has called for the Christie administration to direct “steady and consistent” focus on the primary healthcare phase of National Health Insurance if it is “serious” about successfully implementing the model by May of this year.

Mr Komolafe, while commending the government on its effort to advance aspects of the country’s healthcare system ahead of the proposed date of implementation, on Saturday urged health officials to “press on” with mandates to improve primary care facilities throughout the country as they are expected to play the biggest role in the initial phase of NHI.

Mr Komolafe stressed that the government must work in a manner that it “checks all of the boxes” on its way to what it hopes to be a major “advancement” in the country’s health services industry.

“We know that there is a date in mind. There is a push to get there, but at the same time that date reads May 2017, with the exact day still reading to be determined,” Mr Komolafe said. “The government’s effort to this point has to be commended, but a lot of what has been done thus far has been done in a manner to benefit exclusively secondary and tertiary operations in the country.

“The government has opted to kick-off its model with the primary care, so to that end, that is what we should work to bring up superb levels.”

He told The Tribune that recently implemented features such as the public health sector’s new health information management system, a component that cost the Christie administration roughly $18m, has been incorporated in a manner that gives the impression that holistic advancements are being made. However, he insisted that primary care components are still lagging behind the other levels of care.

“A pragmatic and responsible effort has to be the focus. As it stands today, as primary healthcare is being considered to be rolled out in 2017, the challenge continues to be insuring that the public healthcare system, particularly the facilities that will play a key role in the administration of primary care are upgraded to a degree that ensures consistency and quality in what is provided.

“The health information management system which will allow us to have medical records stored in a beneficial way, that is a step in the right direction, but if the idea is to have primary care ready for May, the push has to be to get the needed equipment in the primary area of healthcare, more so than in the tertiary and secondary area.

“We see and continue to hear about what is happening at PMH, but that is secondary care. We are looking at that and saying that needs to be that same steady and consistent focus on primary care. Clinics, here in New Providence and in the Family Islands have to be addressed prior to May.

“As it stands today, there have been a lot of contracts signed. We hear a lot of talk about refurbishing the clinics and opening some new ones, that is what the public is going to need final word on to help with the buy-in.

“From an industry perspective, that is what we are truly watching for. We can’t sign off on something that is lacking because as we have seen in recent years, the private sector has outpaced the public sector in terms of quality. We need that same level of quality in the public sector by the time we get to May,” he added.

When implemented, government officials said the new integrated health information system would allow for universal access of patient records by the clinics and services of the Department of Public Health and the public hospital institutions and facilities of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).

The system was touted as one of the major steps by the Christie administration towards its goal of NHI later this year.

Last week, Prime Minister Perry Christie pledged that NHI will bring a “positive boost” to the Bahamian economy.

The first phase has been pegged at a cost of $100m by KPMG, the government’s hired consultants.

Primary care services under NHI were originally set to begin in April 2016, but were ultimately delayed.