Africa-Press – Mauritius. The decentralisation of medical specialties in Health Region 5, more specifically the Victoria Hospital, was officially launched, on 14 October 2023, at the Floreal Mediclinic. This initiative aims at improving the quality of Primary Health Care (PHC) service delivery as well as easing the lives of patients.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal; the Parliamentary Private Secretary, Mr Serge Gilbert Bablee; the Member of Parliament, Mr Ashley Ittoo; the Director Health Services, Dr Prithviraj Ramputty; and other personalities were present at the launching ceremony.
In a statement, Minister Jagutpal pointed out that a significant number of people mostly visit regional hospitals either to take an appointment or to consult with a specialist.
This, he indicated, is inconvenient and time-consuming especially for the senior citizens who have to commute over long distances to get to the regional hospital.
He thus underscored the importance of the decentralisation of specialised medical services in relieving patients of the hassle of long travelling and waiting time in the outpatient department.
The Health and Wellness Minister urged the public to avail themselves of the decentralised specialised medical services in the Mediclinics and Area Health Centres in Health Region 5.
Besides benefitting the population, Dr Jagutpal affirmed that the decentralisation project will facilitate the provision of a more efficient health care service as there will be less pressure on regional hospitals.
The politics of decentralisation, Dr Jagutpal recalled, has already been implemented in the South, in Port Louis and now, in the Plaines Wilhems. He informed that the Stanley Mediclinic will be opened in Health Region 5 soon.
For his part, Dr Ramputty underlined that the Victoria Hospital is very overcrowded given that Health Region 5 is the most populated area with over 334,000 people. He hence stressed on the need to decentralise the specialist services to five primary health service points in the region.
To accomplish the ratio regional hospital population to PHCs population of 40:60, the Director Health Services argued that the quality of services in Mediclinics should be enhanced. Bringing the services to the proximity of the elderly population, he further added, aligns with the Integrated care for older people Agenda.
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