Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5070/-1/135/
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HEALTH AUTHORITY: "There Will Be Changes," Says Minister
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Minister of Social Development, Evans M. Rogers, says there will be changes in the way the Anguilla Health Authority is carrying out its duties.
He made the statement as he addressed the Second Quarterly Review meeting for 2007, held at Paradise Cove Resort on July 27, at which the members of a new Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of former Director of Health Services, Dr. Franklin Lloyd, was announced.
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Mr. Evans Rogers
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The previous Board, chaired by Development Sociologist, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks, resigned recently following disagreements with the Minister.
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Dr. Franklin Lloyd
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“The new Board will have a mammoth amount of work ahead of it and I am sure that they are up to the challenge,” Mr. Rogers said. “Dr Lloyd is no stranger to Anguilla and the health system, and I am sure that he is well aware of the challenges that he and the new Board will have to face in the coming years if we are to make our health care system a centre of excellence. Our Chief Executive Officer [Dexter James] will realize that with this new Board things will not be the same. I am sure that from his professional standpoint he will be able to adapt, alter some things and to work closely with the Board. No two individuals are alike, not even identical twins, and there will be some changes in terms of the style, the delivery and the way we do business.”
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Quarterly Review meeting in progress at Paradise Cove Resort
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He hoped that despite the “politics in health” it would be possible for all stakeholders to come together and have one common cause in order to move forward. “As the Minister responsible, I have absolutely no excuse but to be able to channel all my energies this coming year and a half into improving the delivery and availability of health services in Anguilla,” he went on. “As a matter of fact I have no excuse because I regard myself as a health professional and may be, by default, a politician. But I am a health professional and I intend to work closely with this new Board and the CEO and all the stakeholders in order to ensure that we put in place mechanisms whereby we will be able to monitor and deliver after certain periods of our development of health…
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Quarterly Review meeting in progress at Paradise Cove Resort
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“I intend to ask the new Board to be as open and as transparent as possible with regards to the delivery and operation of health care in Anguilla. We do not want to come to this quarterly review and sugar-coat everything because we are not going to solve any problem by putting together statistics that look very good and that you can sell to the public from a theoretical standpoint. In these forums you need to be open and honest with regards what is happening to our health care system.”
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Quarterly Review meeting in progress at Paradise Cove Resort
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He thanked the previous Board for doing “a tremendous amount of work in terms of getting the Health Authority to where it is today.” He said he was sincere about the statement as he was well aware of what the health system in Anguilla used to be. “I was a part of it. I know exactly where we are coming from,” he went on. “I must congratulate the previous Board. It is now time for us to move on and to be open and honest and to accept some of the criticisms that have been dished out to us with regards to the delivery of health care.”
The Minister said there was a need to identify a number of persons for training in various fields of health now that he had worked hard to ensure that scholarships were available.
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Quarterly Review meeting in progress at Paradise Cove Resort
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Dr. Lloyd, the newly-appointed Chairman of the Health Authority Board, said he was now familiarising himself with the work of the organisation. He observed that there was a need for the review to go beyond the level of implementation of objectives for the second quarter and to identify constraints and present plans and programmes. “I also think that we should try to improve on the efficiency in delivery of health care and examine very carefully how we could make the Health Authority a cost-effective institution,” he stated.
He also emphasised the need for an awareness of public perception and mentioned various areas of medical and health care to which more attention should be paid. He urged everyone to continue to work hard, to be proud of the health institution and to make it a centre of excellence.
Earlier, CEO, Dexter James, said that amidst the uncertainty surrounding the organisation, the Minister of Health had appointed a new Board to lead the continued development of the health sector. He named the appointees as being Dr. Lloyd, Chairman, Dr. Linda Banks, Deputy Chairman, Erville Hughes, Leonard Carty, Malonee (Salome) Lake-Gumbs and Preston Bryan as members. He pointed out that one other member was still to be appointed to meet the full complement of the Board.
Mr. James took the opportunity to thank the ongoing Board for laying a sound platform for the future development of health services in Anguilla. He said efforts were currently being made to establish Board Committees and to finalise other regulatory matters such as signatories and meeting days.