In an effort to improve the country’s healthcare services and human resources development, management administrators from five major hospitals recently met in Vientiane to review effective management methods.
The one-week course, occurring under the Swiss Laos Hospital Project, included patient services management, quality health services, and issues surrounding human resources and development.
Participants in the training also studied a variety of other topics including framework corporate culture, strategic planning, organisational leadership, good governance, financial management, human resource management and change management in regards to project management.
Deputy Director of the Healthcare Department under the Ministry of Health, Associate Prof Dr Bounnack, stressed the importance of improving hospital management in Laos, stating that that it was imperative for us to increase our understanding of hospital management, especially amongst hospital administrators across the country.
It was added, that sometimes senior officials who are undergoing training don’t always necessarily have experience in human resources development or patient service management because they are specialists in other types of healthcare.
However, these same doctors, nurses and medical staff still can’t adequately provide quality standards for certain types of medical services because they lack adequate knowledge of management practices, which means they don’t always look after their patients as well as they should, says Associate Prof Dr Bounnack.
In previous years, The Ministry of Health collaborated with various hospitals around Vientiane and conducted meetings and workshops to gain an understanding among doctors, nurses and medical staff about the importance of providing quality healthcare services.
Unfortunately, hospital administrators still lack the capacity and knowledge to manage these services and their associated issues.
Before the ministry can expand and implement this model to other hospitals in the country, the Deputy Director explained that this course must first be successful in bridging the gaps and laying the foundation as an example for hospital management in Laos.
Deputy Director General of Mahosot Hospital, Associate Prof. Dr Ounkham Phanthaly, said he believed the workshop had an important role to play in the development of capacity and knowledge of hospital administrative staff.
“We think that if we want to solve problems in healthcare services we should start with hospital administrators because they are the ones who will make the decisions on most issues within their organisations,” Associate Prof.
Dr Ounkham stated.
Hospital management aspires to protect the rights and benefits of members of the public in regards to delivery of medical treatment and reducing the number of complaints.
The broader policy aims to provide people of all ethnic groups with quality treatment on an impartial basis.
