BRADES Montserrat, January 29th, 2013 -- Department for International Development (DFID) will provide EC$34.53 million to improve the physical infrastructure at the Glendon Hospital in St. Johns and support programmes that would address the management of non-communicable diseases, staff development and care for the elderly.
Permanent Secretary Elijah Silcott confirmed that the funds will be disbursed in stages over a four year period and he expressed gratitude to DFID on behalf of the Government for the approval of this aid package which will advance positive health care reform.
One area which would benefit is the country’s quality of health care delivery, which would be bolstered by a modern health information system, particularly in the field of telemedicine. Telemedicine literally means “healing at a distance.” It signifies the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve patient outcomes by increasing access to care and medical information (WHO).
Interestingly, the World Health Organization recommended that Member States should take steps to capitalize on the potential of ICT to provide accessible, cost effective, high-quality health care services. Telemedicine applications have successfully improved the quality and accessibility of medical care by allowing distant providers to evaluate, diagnose, treat, and provide follow-up care to patients in less-economically developed countries (WHO).
This new arrangement would benefit both the patient and the health care system by eliminating the travel cost and other related expenses to access specialist attention and care elsewhere. Telemedicine in Montserrat will foster better medical decisions and better health outcomes.
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