Yesterday I wrote welcoming the news that the Solomon Islands government has plans to turn the Tulagi hospital into a “fully fledged” general hospital.
In terms of what the WHO defines as the services needed to be provided at a general hospital, they include the ability of medical staff to handle surgical emergencies 24/7 promptly cesarean sections, open fractures and acute abdomen problems.
In regard to the staffing requirements for a general hospital the WHO specifies the need for specialized staff, surgeons, gynecologists and anesthetists available without delay and around the clock. The same is required for laboratory and X-ray personnel.
The WHO also specifies that at a general hospital there should be at least two persons per speciality.
If the WHO requirements are adopted for the staffing and equipment needs of a general hospital on Tulagi what a world of difference it will bring to health services currently available in the existing hospital.
In welcoming the proposal for a general hospital, the Premier of the Central Province, Stanley Manetiva had said due to the lack of specialist services there had always been a high number of referrals (to the NRH) because staff at the existing hospital had not been able to “advance” their patients treatment.
Let us hope that kind of situation will change when the proposed general hospital is built, staffed, equipped, and opens its doors.
From what Premier Manetiva said about the lack of specialist services and the numbers of referrals having to be made, I just wonder about the bigger picture in the rural areas with few health clinics remaining, often no doctors and limited nurses with, presumably, only general medical training and no specialist skills.
I can’t wait for the day when the government can say the rural health scene will be fully functional with new health clinics, new health centres, better staffed and equipped provincial hospitals and the rural population able to access all their health care needs close to home.
It is an ideal which development partners should incorporate into their infrastructure and developing planning proposals going forward.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
