Dear Editor,
One could not help but be impressed with Dr Henry Jeffrey’s brief presentation of his credentials as a Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, during the stated period `There were major legislative accomplishments during my tenure at the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security’, SN December 27th.
He has always held my admiration.
However, I cannot help but wonder why he did not advert to his stewardship as Minister of Health. I might be mistaken, but he would have preceded Minister Ramsammy.
An internationally funded consultancy was conducted by an overseas group who had working with them S.V. Jones as sub-contractors. The aim of the project was to:
• divorce the Ministry from managing the then Georgetown Public Hospital
• the Ministry was to be replaced by an Executive Board, who would be
managed by a Chief Executive and others
• there would be the establishment of six regional Health Administrations who
would report directly to the Ministry.
As it turned out, the then Minister of Health registered the Hospital as a Public Corporation under the relevant legislation, but contradictorily proceeded to treat it as the Budget Agency it formerly was.
The fact is that the Administration and the Opposition in turn sheepishly allowed this conundrumatic construct – unique in any part of the world.
What has since transpired under successive Ministers, under-informed as they were, was a substantive distortion of the originally conceived semi-autonomous authority of the Chairman and Board of a legitimate corporate institution, and the return to an incestuous decision-making process which, only recently, one ‘Public Health’ incumbent boasted as ‘micro-management’, when in fact he was too encumbered by ‘macro-management’. He soon fell under the weight.
Today’s public health sector’s output confirms a quality of management that is reflected in the depreciating performance of what remains as a Corporate Board, and the consequential poor service delivery by the misplaced Budget Agency.
Incidentally the contemporary micro-managers of the earlier period under discussion only established one formal Regional Health Administration – in Region 6 – you guessed right!
The foregoing reminiscence is by no means intended to impugn Dr Jeffrey’s management record in any way.
Yours faithfully
E.B. John
