About 40 healthcare stakeholders gathered last Thursday to provide feedback for an upcoming strategic plan designed to inform the operations of the BVI Health Services Authority for the next five to eight years.
The plan, which is expected to launch next month, will seek to build on the BVIHSA’s current strengths, enhance delivery of care, better support staff and improve financial systems, according to KPMG consultants hired to draft the document. In recent months, the firm has engaged more than 180 internal and external stakeholders across Tortola and the sister islands, according to Penny Barker, a Bahamas-based KPMG director who helped deliver the presentation during the BVIHSA Strategic Planning Summit last Thursday at the BVI International Arbitration Centre.
Additionally, KPMG is seeking feedback from the community through ongoing online surveys, which so far have received more than 50 responses, Ms. Barker said.
‘Excellence in healthcare’
BVIHSA Board Director Ron Potter delivered the welcome remarks at the summit.
“This strategic plan is intended to be a blueprint for the transformation, sustainability and excellence in healthcare over the next five to eight years,” he said.
During the summit, healthcare stakeholders discussed various themes related to the sector, such as governance, care delivery, workforce, technology, infrastructure, finance, sustainability and resources.
Besides BVIHSA staff, attendees included Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley, HSD Permanent Secretary Tasha Bertie, and other representatives from the HSD; the National Health Insurance programme; the Department of Labour and Workforce Development; the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports; the Department of Immigration; and the BVI Diabetes Association.
Discussion questions were included for each theme. Under the “governance” topic, attendees were asked, “What does ‘good governance’ mean to you?”
Many answers highlighted the importance of accountability. Others addressed transparency, integrity, quality, efficiency or reliability.
NHI agreement
Mr. Potter also spoke about the importance of the BVIHSA’s financial management.
“We have to get our finances right, and that mainly stems from the alliance agreement that we have with NHI,” he said. “The assisted alliance agreement governs how the HSA is compensated through National Health Insurance for the healthcare services that it provides under [the] available budget.”
New alliance agreement
He added that this agreement was originally intended to last only one year but it has instead lasted 10 years and contributed “significantly to our current challenges.”
A new alliance agreement, he said, is in the works under the oversight of a contract management committee that includes members of the BVIHSA, the ministry and the NHI programme.
Tendered contract
The KPMG contract was tendered, according to BVIHSA Marketing and Public Relations Officer Damion Grange.
Mr. Grange, however, did not immediately respond to a query about its cost.
