As the town hall meetings, newspapers and airwaves heat up with criticisms of the latest changes to the dispensing of pharmaceuticals through the Government Drug Service programme, we once again focus on the mechanisms of health care while drowning out the need for wellness programmes that will bring much greater benefits to us all. The Drug service provides a critical and vital service to the community, but it is fraught with problems of inefficiency and accountability as well as mission creep. For years the waste in the system has been legendary while bureaucratic resistance to change has been remarkable.
There is no doubt that the system was in need of overhaul but the recent changes did not address some fundamental issues and resulted in chaos and myriad unintended consequences. This was the result of a lack of consultation, poor planning and worse implementation. The changes were all about cutting cost and nothing about improving customer service or streamlining the system.
Once again we see the ill effects of implementing changes that are organization centric rather than customer centric. It seems to be a national pastime.
The periodic crisis events in health care solutions continue to override the more fundamental and important issues of wellness and healthy living to improve the quality of life of all Barbadians. There is a need for a greater emphasis on preventative care and quality of life issues that would result in lower health care cost and greater national productivity.
There needs to be a transformation of our health care systems that truly involves both the public sector and the business community in a way that treats people with compassion and as valuable contributors to society. We well understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure but we seldom put it into practice. It is time to walk the talk.
With an increasingly sophisticated society and as information becomes more readily available we need to constantly adapt and change the medical services and advice to meet the demands of the population. Certainly there needs to be much greater transparency. Individuals should be encouraged to take more responsibility for their own health and wellness and not rely on the state to meet all their needs. Indeed, that is not a sustainable economic model nor does it encourage responsible behavior.
The public health care services should be designed to meet the needs of the truly poor in society. As we continue to develop over the long term and economic conditions improve, individuals should be encouraged to invest in their own health through healthy living and exercise and seek protection through private insurance in the event of a catastrophic illness or debilitating disease. Corporate Barbados should expand their health insurance programmes as a matter of self interest, not benevolence, as a healthy workforce is a productive one. More importantly the health programmes should not just be all about health insurance but should be coupled with wellness education programmes; robust industrial safety programmes and exercise opportunities for the more sedentary workers.
Having had my say on the subject, I think that I will now cut the lawn, take the dogs for a walk and pick some good Bajan cherries for my fresh fruit of the day.
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