HEALTH Minister Horace Dalley has pledged to hold all health care workers accountable, which he says is necessary for the ministry to fulfil its core mandate of ensuring quality care for clients who use public facilities.

“One key factor that we must look at in moving forward, one factor that is non-negotiable, that we must have is accountability. When I say accountability I mean from everyone — nurses, doctors, porters, administrators, everyone,” Dalley said.

The minister, who was delivering the main address at the official launch of Kingston Public Hospital’s (KPH) 240th anniversary celebrations and the official reopening of the William, Luke and Steventon wards at the downtown Kingston-based hospital on Wednesday, said that it is impossible for public health care facilities and the ministry to effectively carry out their functions in the absence of accountability.

“You cannot have a system in which you don’t know what time your doctors, your nurses or your porters come in or what time they leave. We must come together to design a system that will encourage the accountability of each staff member,” Dalley told attendees at the function.

He pointed out that all members of his team would be held to the same level of accountability, regardless of their position on the organisational chart.

“That is one of the things I will be insisting that we must have in this system. People must be playing their role; people who are paid to do a job must be playing their role. Every porter, every ward attendant, every nurse, every doctor, every director, everyone, we must look within ourselves and ensure that the system is in place for this accountability,” Dalley said.

According to Minister Dalley, accountability is not the only change that the health ministry will reflect in the months to come as there are plans to make changes not only to the infrastructure of several health facilities, including Spanish Town, May Pen, Cornwall Regional and Kingston Public hospitals, but there will also be a radical change in the medical record-keeping systems.

“We must correct the problem with the medical records, and that is one of the commitments that I am making today. This must be corrected. No modern, civilised society can operate where the records of health of hundreds of thousands of our citizens cannot be located and cannot be accounted for,” Dalley stated, noting that he would not commit to make changes that the ministry is not in a position to implement at this time.

“While we cannot promise that we will do everything all at once, we will work and we will ensure that we go to the Ministry of Finance to ensure that we get the best support for the health sector,” Dalley said.

He said that the renovation of three wards that were reopened was proof of the ministry’s commitment to address the problem of space and bed shortage. The facilities, which were closed early last year to accommodate the renovation, now has the capacity to house 28 patients.

Dalley said that the total renovation cost stands at $59.2 million, $28 million of which went to the actual refurbishing of the three wards while the remainder was spent to upgrade the Nuttall Ward that housed the residents of the three wards while they underwent renovation.

The renovation included painting, roof and electrical work, installation of flooring, windows, bathroom and other fixtures.

On Wednesday Dalley commended the partners that made the renovation possible.

“The renovation of the Luke and Steventon Wards was a joint effort between the South East Regional Health authority and the National Health Fund,” he said.