Republic of Mauritius- Hospital staff trained in Leadership in Healthcare, Customer Service and Effective Communication

This training, which is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life and the CSCM, aims at enhancing the professional and ethical behavior of hospital staff as well as improve management skills of health care personnel.

Other objectives are: to enhance health care service and to positively change behaviours in the hospital which are in line with the Ministry’s vision; to promote team spirit and organisational excellence to improve service delivery, and to develop leadership skills across different levels of the hierarchy.

In his keynote address, Minister Husnoo reiterated Government’s intent to continue to provide quality health care by investing massively in the latest medical technology and appropriate modern infrastructure.  According to him, along with these facilities, it is essential to have a competent staff. The public healthcare sector is equipped with a pool of highly skilled and well-trained staff who are required to provide efficient services, he emphasised.

As regards the issue of complaints from patients regarding customer service by hospital staff, he underlined that his Ministry is striving to improve the quality of health services to the population adding that health care personnel have the duty to cater to the needs of patients in a dedicated way. He pointed out that he is aware of the difficulties faced by patients and reassured the population that initiatives are being taken to provide a better quality of care to patients through innovation, new infrastructures as well as massive investments in the health care sector across Mauritius.

Dr Husnoo dwelt on the importance of effective communication between health care personnel and towards patients. In this constantly changing health environment, he said, training and capacity-building programmes of health care personnel are fundamental to enhance the health sector as they play a key role in delivering quality health services where dissemination of good customer service remain indispensable.

Minister Husnoo appealed to the hospital staff to perform their duties efficiently as care providers to patients.  In this respect, he emphasised that it is essential to equip them with core leadership values such as leadership, customer service and good communication skills.

Speaking about upcoming projects in the health sector, Dr Husnoo announced that they will cater to the needs of patients. They include: a new Cancer Centre; a new Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) hospital; and a new Eye Hospital.

For his part, Minister Boissézon underlined that Government is leaving no stone unturned to invest in human capital and improve performance in the public sector. The training, he highlighted, will help the hospital staff with the fundamental principles of communication and customer service. The workforce of the health sector should be empowered through proper training and education in order to overcome the emerging challenges, he further stated.

Mr Boissézon underscored that during the training, participants will be provided technical skills on how to effectively communicate with customers and among employees and management as well as how to empower the health care personnel in understanding the importance of customer service excellence and to act accordingly. Participants will also be called upon to devise a personal action plan to enhance customer service, he added.

The Director General of the CSCM, Professor Ramesh Durbarry,for his part, highlighted that the training will enhance the competencies of hospital staff for service excellence through effective communication and leadership. The CSCM, he emphasised, works closely with qualified and experienced resource persons to offer quality training courses to staff from Ministries/Departments, hence improving productivity in the public service.