Health trends

St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital conference

The St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital annual scientific conference was held recently at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios under the theme 'Advancing Patient Centred Health Care Delivery through Collaboration Communication and Care'.

In additional to scientific papers presented by hospital staff and other presenters, this strategic forum also provided a medium for practitioners to discuss issues and challenges affecting patients and the delivery of health care at the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital.

Ten members of staff were acknowledged and presented with awards and prizes for outstanding service to patients and the facility at the conference's opening ceremony, held at Columbus Park in Discovery Bay.

Keynote speaker for the conference, Bernard Coard, former deputy prime minister of Grenada and lecturer at the University of the West Indies, in his address charged health-care professionals to see their patients as a "social construct, with attitudes, values, and expectations, with a positive or negative disposition". He reminded them that "most people do not remember most of what you say to them, but what they do remember is how you made them feel".

Source: The North East Regional Health Authority (Jamaica)