Last Updated on January 17, 2023, 5:09 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Ministry of Health in St Kitts and Nevis, headed by Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew and the Executive Management Committee of the Joseph N France General Hospital, announced some important changes. The ministry and management committee will enact the newly announced changes immediately. These changes will ensure the continued improvement of quality patient care for the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Per the Ministry of Health update, the JNF Hospital blood bank will accept blood donations from suitable donors during regular working hours from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Meanwhile, the hospital also noted that the hospital would not reject any eligible donors in case of an emergency.
Further, the health ministry announced they are starting a series of outreach activities. The authorities designed these programmes to increase the national blood donor pool and reactivate the national blood donor registry. In turn, this will prevent the frequent shortages of blood products nationally.
The ministry of health and the management committee of JNF General encouraged all the healthy-bodied people in the country who are willing to donate blood to register as donors. The ministry urged them to donate twice a year to help us retain a constant supply of blood products.
Further, they announced that in the future, the hospital would ask everyone scheduled for an elective surgical procedure at the JNF hospital with a large expected blood loss to provide suitable blood donors at least three days before the procedure. According to the ministry of health, This will help to allow the hospital’s other blood donation reserves to come to use for emergencies only.
Plans are on the way to install small, functional laboratories at the Pogson Hospital in Sandy Point and the Mary Charles Hospital in Molyneux, which the hospitals will use for emergency and basic blood and urine tests. These facilities would help to decrease the overall burden on the government lab facilities at JNF. Additionally, they allow the medical technology staff to focus on the more critical cases at the JNF General.
In the meantime, The JNF Executive Management Committee extended their gratitude to the general public for their encouragement and words of advice. At the same time, they work towards improving healthcare delivery to St Kitts and Nevis.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
