| Azlan Othman |
MINISTER of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi said his ministry welcomes any views and suggestions to improve the health services in the country.
“Don’t just keep quiet but relay your grievances to the Ministry of Health (MoH), he said addressing a dialogue session between MoH and village heads in the Brunei-Muara District yesterday.
The minister said the dialogue session is part of the ministry’s efforts in assessing the achievement of health services so far.
“Such discussions will serve as a platform for us to share ideas as aspirated by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in ensuring the well-being of people from all walks of life.
“We are striving to ensure that no one is left behind in obtaining health services.
“During similar dialogue in the Tutong District, we encountered issues related to expectant mothers living in rural areas facing difficulties. A suggestion was made to hire four wheel drive vehicles to bring these mothers to the nearby clinic or hospital,” he said.
“Let us discuss with cohesion and an open mind for the benefit of the people of this country.
“Concerted efforts by all parties or an whole-of-nation approach is needed to realise this objective, as often reminded in many of His Majesty’s titahs where the monarch has stressed on the importance of ensuring people from all walks of life have easy access to services provided by the government,” the minister said.
The MoH is committed to continuously enhancing efforts in fulfilling the vision ‘Together towards a Healthy People’, in line with one of its key strategies to make health a responsibility of all, by strengthening engagement with all levels of society, he added.
The dialogue session was held to share the development of healthcare systems and service initiatives implemented by MoH in the last two years.
It also addressed issues and challenges faced by the people of Brunei-Muara District.
During the session, Dr Haji Ahmad Yazid bin Haji Abdul Wahab, Medical Superintendent of Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital, highlighted efforts to enhance patient experience.
“One of the initiatives for this is to introduce a corporate social responsibility service to enhance quality, patient-friendly service among officers and staff through training.”
Speaking to the media, YB Pengiran Haji Ali bin Pengiran Maon, a member of the Legislative Council and Penghulu of Mukim Berakas ‘B’ lauded the ministry’s move to gather views of village heads as grassroots leaders on developments in the field of healthcare.
“Grievances aired in villages should be properly relayed to the officers. Many villagers are unable to go to hospital due to the lack of transport facilities and some have no carers to take them for treatment. Officers from the ministry must go to their houses to examine them,” he added.
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