The health sector should soon experience changes aimed at providing more welfare for patients. The new minister, Satish Faugoo, will soon propose to the cabinet a plan with about ten measures to improve the facilities and services offered in hospitals. The main objective is to reduce the time patients have to wait in hospitals before being seen by a doctor. To accelerate the process, a doctor would screen the patients as soon as they arrive and channel them to the right department. It is of no use for a patient to wait for hours in the main hall while he should go to a specialised department.

The major change would consist in the referral of patients to hospitals, as it done in Great Britain, by community or area health centres. If this becomes compulsory, the patient arriving at the hospital would need a letter of reference from the community centre. This should reduce the number of people who go straight to hospital casualty wards for any small ailment. But a campaign to explain these measures to the public would be necessary before such a regulation is implemented.

Three hospitals will be renovated and provided with more modern infrastructure: Mahebourg, Flacq and Jeetoo hospitals.

<B>A special children’s hospital </B>

The minister of Health, who visited Jeetoo hospital last week, must have been convinced that such works have become a real necessity. “I can understand that there is not enough space in this hospital. But we have also seen that there are problems with organisation. It is a real mess. The reorganisation of the casualty ward remains a top priority,” he said. A speacial children’s hospital will also be built as well as a modern centre to care for drug addicts.

As the government considers that the number of people infected with AIDS is alarming and that its predecessor has not given enough attention to the issue, it is making it one of its priorities. A Medical Trust Fund for patients who need treatment abroad will also be set up.

The minister also expressed much concern when he visited SSR Hospital in the North. He realised that a number of machines have not been working for months. He has since demanded a technical audit of all machines in the five hospitals of the island. The aim is not only to see whether these machines break down frequently but also to check if they are not under-used as such equipment is expensive.