Georgetown : The Cancer Institute of Guyana (CIG) is now authorised to administer radiation therapy to cancer patients in Guyana, according to international standardised best practices.
Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, under the Health Facilities Licencing Act 2007 issued the organisation with a provisional licence that allows it to operate an oncology clinic with radiation therapy, in light of a recent evaluation showing that CIG is in compliance with requirements under the Health Facilities Licencing Act 2007, to provide the radiation services.
Minister Ramsaran explained that on April 26, 2013 the Director of Standards Dr. Julian Amsterdam submitted his report indicating that the Cancer Institute of Guyana has put in place, not only equipment, but adequate qualified personnel to effectively and safely deliver services. I am now satisfied that the requirements under the ‘Health Facilities Licencing Act 2007’ are adequately met and the ministry is now in a position to issue correctly and appropriately the relevant licence.”
According to Dr Amsterdam, some of the areas that were looked at, in examining the licencing of the institute, include governance and maintenance, maintenance of medical records, patient care arrangement, equipment and supplies, sanitation and safety and with regards to the oncology centre; that the this section be supervised by a physician who has the specific training and be equipped with trained oncology staff.
These are among the check list of the Health Facilities Licencing Act 2007 that are ticked off during the inspection and evaluation process. An organisation must at the least attain a 70 percent score to be approved for licencing, he said.
The Ministry of Health in 2009 first inspected the institute towards licencing, but that the institute failed to reach the required standards. Since then, it has been working with local experts and some from PAHO to ensure that the CIG’s service is in compliance with the laws of Guyana, and is up to standard best practices.
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