….young doctor named Champion WorkerA young doctor walked away as the Champion Health Worker on Saturday evening at theDr Nerissa Ramnarine, the Best Health Worker receiving her award from GT&T Ceo, Yog Mahadeoninth Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) Awards Ceremony. Dr Nerissa Ramnarine, Government Health Officer, stationed at both the Port Mourant Hospital and Health Centre won a trip for two to Kaieteur Falls. Several other outstanding health workers, including retirees and current practitioners in the system were awarded for their efforts in the health arena in the region.Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, Chief Executive Officer of the BRHA, lauded health practitioners in the region for making Region Six the “most progressive region where health is concerned– progressive in delivering care in a variety of ways no other region does in Guyana and making sure that the citizens we serve are aware of what we do and how we do things and holding us accountable,” he said.Mahadeo noted that the Home-based Care programme was highly successful. A total of 866 Berbicians received care at home from the medexes and doctors. The Foot-care programme and Dental Programme and Blood Recruitment Programme are “second only to the National Blood Transfusion Programme”, and the HIV/ Counseling and Testing Programme. “These programmes continue to shine,” he said.He revealed that the National Psychiatric Hospital is now staffed with an additional mental health staff member in the person of Dr Ravi Thakurdeen, “a young Guyanese who returned from Cuba” and was “joined by Medex Hameeda Alli”.He said that $10M was spent to upgrade the grounds around the mental facility. The Acute Care Ward which is under construction at a cost of $120M should be completed by the second quarter of this year. The new canteen and craft shop has “some of the best leather craft that comes from the hospital,” he added.The patients’ records at the institution have now been computerized, he revealed. And “the data are sent regularly to the Ministry of Health and to doctors in Georgetown”.“The Psychiatric Patient Care Assistant Programme was completed and 21 young men and women joined the staff at the facility. All our primary health care staff received training in 2011”, he related.Mahadeo noted that four new health centers were built last year– at Whim, Skeldon,Wholesale China Jerseys, Ma Retraite and Angoy’s Avenue. “At every health centre, you can have your dressing done,”? he noted.Over at the New Amsterdam Hospital,wholesale nfl jerseys, there were more than 93,000 visits at the out-patient department and clinic,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, and 1,Cheap Jerseys From China,704 surgeries were done. He added that 1,494 babies were delivered, 16 were stillbirths. For the same period there were 16 neonatal deaths and one maternal death.“We’re hoping that this year we would be able to maintain the status we had from 2006 to 2009 when we had zero maternal deaths”, he stated. The CEO stated that 14,278 x-rays were done; 75,456 lab tests were done and 76,442 prescriptions were filled at the hospital.The Foot- care centre, which is located in the New Amsterdam Hospital compound, started to function in July 2011 and attended to 173 patients who had diabetic foot issues. The BRHA has managed to achieve 14 per cent of testing in Berbice during National Testing Week last year. “We managed to do 33 per cent in the total number of tests done in the country,” he noted.Twenty- six blood drives werThe 2011 Outstanding Health Workers and Awardees with CEO's of GT&T and BRHAe conducted and the BRHA surpassed its target thrown out by then Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and collected some 1,067 units of blood with over 85 per cent being voluntary donors.Four hundred and eighty- seven new donors were recruited. Mahadeo noted that the Berbice hospitals continue to deliver secondary and tertiary care. Skeldon Hospital, he noted, over a period of time, has increased the number of patients and in- patients.The mobile dental bus has been working on the Corentyne and would be visiting schools as well this year.The Berbice health sector received 512 complaints, most about the waiting time at one hospital. He noted that ”every single one of the complaints was investigated.”Dr Mahadeo stated that in 2012 the region plans to extend the Diabetic Foot- care programme on the Corentyne and “we will improve the extended home- based care programme and pay special attention to the suicide problem in Region Six”.He said that the BRHA has topped the country in health care delivery and he thanked his staff and medical personnel for their dedication. “The successes are the successes of our hardworking staff, who go beyond the call of duty to serve the people of

The security threat at the Camp Street penitentiary is still a factor that needs to be looked into even though the relevant prison authority is claiming that everything is “all well and good”.SECURITYIn light of a prisoner escaping from the Camp Street jail, a prison officer has been sent home pending further investigation. This newspaper was informed that senior prison officials argue that the interdicted officer was stationed in one of the four towers in the prison compound on the night of the escape.But contrary to the authorities’ allegation, the prisoner was carrying out chores when he took the opportunity to walk out of the compound. Most nights if not all, two or three prison warders are tasked with maintaining security for a 12-hour period.A prison officer added that prisoners are well aware that during the night there is opportunity to make a dash for freedom and will more than likely escape unnoticed.Several prison warders believe that their life is at a great risk while working within the prison walls.They took the opportunity to call upon Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, to stop painting a perfect picture of the grave situation and to let the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee,Cheap NFL Jerseys, be aware of the plight of the Camp Street jail.They went on to explain that it makes no sense to be informing the public on illegal items seize from inmates and then within minutes of the discovery those same items are marketed to the owners.MEDICALAnother concern that requires attention is the condition of the ‘Social dormitory’ where mentally ailing inmates are housed. The source described the condition there as dreadful. Those inmates who are deemed mentally unfit are taken to that dorm after a medical examination is conducted upon their admittance to the prison.The Social dormitory houses both remand and sentenced prisoners. It is located close to the brick prison, commonly called ‘Bricks’. The population is just over 19 and inmates are forced to sleep on the ground. The source said that no bed is placed in that area due to the state of the inmates’ illness.“The prison doesn’t put beds in there because the inmates usually destroy them,” mentioned that source. Those inmates are taken out of their dormitory to shower. This practice is carried out seldom making that location unhealthy for humans to inhabit. “There is an officer that is tasked with looking after that area and it is only when he thinks those inmates should bath that they are taken out and that is not done too often.The doctor visits one or twice per month to examine mentally ill prisoners but the source claimed that the doctor hardly spent any time looking after patients.When asked about the other inmates’ health issues,Soccer Jerseys China, the source stated that a medex more often than not,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, listens to medical complaints from the others prisoners before offering them probably some panadol or aspirin.If there are cases that the inmate’s complaint is grave he is forwarded to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) or the prison infirmary.“Some of those prisoners at the infirmary are not even sick but just because them and the senior officers are friends or family they are in there.”One example involves a particular inmate known as the “Mother of the prison”. This person is allowed to live in the infirmary, comforted by a television set and mosquito netting.There was one occurrence when a junior officer saw the said prisoner in possession of a cellular phone and took it away. That officer was reportedly ordered to hand back the phone.The source also spoke about the death of murder accused Clive Hanover. This man complained of feeling unwell about several days prior to his death.Kaieteur News understands that Hanover during his last days told medical personnel at the penal complex that he felt like he had contracted malaria it was for that reason that the medex give him a quantity of Panadol.He was however sent back to his cell even though he was experiencing pain and was unable to walk. A few days later Hanover died.ILLEGAL DOINGSIn recent times, there have been allegations of illegal activities carried out by prison officers inside the penitentiary.One prison officer stationed at the Camp Street jail,Adidas Juuse Saros Jersey, said that a convict who is the tailor shop orderly is given special treatment. An officer was lately transferred to Timehri prison after she was implicated in the smuggling of a cell phone into the prison.Another officer was transferred from the finance department of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) to the Camp Street penitentiary after she embezzled over $200,Wholesale Jerseys,000, prop