More GPs, health centres partner with Gov’t in NCD fight
Published:Thursday | February 3, 2022 | 12:09 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has engaged additional general practitioners under its public-private partnership for non-communicable diseases.
Under the partnership, Jamaicans living with hypertension and diabetes are able to receive treatment from private healthcare providers.
The health ministry conducted a pilot of the programme between July to December 2021, with four general practitioners and six referring health centres.
Patients enrolled in the programme have cited shorter wait times and fewer transportation issues in seeking medical attention.
The target for the pilot was 200 referrals, but only 91 were successful, or 46 per cent of the target.
Medical epidemiologist in the Non-Communicable Disease and Injury Prevention Unit at the ministry, Dr Julia Rowe-Porter, said Kingston and St Andrew had the lowest take-up of referrals for varying reasons.
Only four of the 80 patients targeted received care under the partnership.
“We are having dialogue with the parish and the region to work through them. We acknowledge that it is a pilot and it’s a new initiative and we are learning how to improve on the implementation,” Rowe-Porter said, adding that the pilot has been extended to March 2022.
With the addition, 13 general practitioners are now enrolled under the programme and will liaise with 15 referral health centres.
These are: Olympic Gardens, Hagley Park, Nannyville, Slipe Pen Road Comprehensive, Rollington Town, Denham Town, Waterford, Christian Pen, Sydenham, St Jago Park, Brown’s Town, Runaway Bay, St Ann’s Bay, Whitehouse, and May Pen.
In his remarks, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said the public healthcare system is under stress and it is not sufficiently empowered to cater to Jamaica’s NCD burden.
According to the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey, Jamaica has a 34 per cent prevalence of hypertension and a 12 per cent prevalence of diabetes among people 15 and older.
“We are satisfied sufficiently with the efforts and believe that the programme should be expanded. We have set ourselves a target during the course of this year for some 5,000 Jamaicans to benefit from the services of private practitioners, although they are public patients,” Tufton said.
Non-communicable diseases account for almost 70 per cent of deaths locally.
The health minister added that this arrangement will, over time, ease the burden on the public healthcare system and allow greater access to care.
List of private healthcare providers:
Kingston & St Andrew
Dr Rupert Riley
Dr Matthew Bird
Dr Dionne Williams
Dr Shane Dockery
Dr Marjorie Vassell
St Catherine
Dr Andrea Johnson
Dr Tania Ricketts-Rooms
St Ann
Dr Kevin Rowe
Dr Renee McKoy
Dr Yolanda Hosang
Westmoreland
Dr Kevin Lawrence
Dr Tracey-Ann Spence-Golaub
Clarendon
Dr Anil Kumar Kandikatia