Catharsis
I still cannot get over the "Bad News" I received yesterday (see yesterday's blog). I still cannot imagine how for two years, the health staff have been bypassed from the annual appointment for casual employees. I am definitely frustrated. I have never stopped verbalizing for and in behalf of the job order nurses and midwives of the Municipality of Candoni. Currently, I have 14 job orders: 7 of them are midwives, 2 are nurses, 1 is a driver, 1 is a clerk, 2 are utility personnel, 1 is a health attendant. Most of them are actually manning the Night Emergency Clinic.
What is a Night Emergency Clinic? In the town of Candoni, the previous administration has implemented a policy that would cater to emergency cases encountered after office hours. Which means, after 5 pm, there is a team of job order midwives and nurses who would run the so-called Night Emergency Clinic which is supposed to cater only to emergency cases (accidents, traumas, complicated pregnancies, respiratory distress, etc). However, usually, and just like in any other Emergency Room of a hospital, even non-emergency cases would come to the Night Emergency Clinic to seek medical consultation. Which means, since I was deployed as a DTTB, I have been working 24 hours a day 5 days a week. In fact, the Night Emergency clinic was "reformed" to ensure quality service. However, while this is an ambitious and laudable policy, I was expecting that they would also provide fair compensation to the people who are working in the Night Emergency Clinic. So far, they have not fully rewarded their health care workers.
This can be very frustrating, especially to these licensed midwives and nurses who would only earn 150 pesos a day, working for 8 hours per shift. Not fair. Besides, my Magna Carta Rights tell me that I should only be working for a maximum of 8 hours a day as well. But because of this NEC policy, I would find myself answering to calls, even consulting after office hours, perhaps one of the fewest Municipal health Officers who would still do so after office hours, WITHOUT added compensation.
Here's a bold recommendation: if they can't provide support for their NEC staff, why not close the Night Emergency Clinic? It would seem that the municipality cannot afford to sustain the NEC or would deny the NEC the full support they need. In the upcoming local health board meeting, I will be proposing this recommendation. If they cannot find ways to provide ample compensation to our hardworking and deserving job orders, I will invoke my Magna Carta benefits and will from now on strictly adhere to office hours.
Kahapus bung-lon sang tawo, kabudlay kay-uhun sang systema. Believe me, I have been trying.
When I was told that it would be impossible to change culture and promote facility-based deliveries and therefore establish a new mindset when it comes to the role played by the traditional birth attendants in the community, I was discouraged at first. I thought that people would still call their hilots whenever they would deliver their babies. When I gathered all the hilots in the municipality and told them about this policy and advocacy, I was half hopeful and half pessimistic.
In 2007, our facility-based deliveries were only 24%. By the end of 2008, our facility-based deliveries reached close to 80%!
We did our best to improve our health indicators. For the first time in the history of Candoni, our Fully Immunized Children coverage has reached 100%. Our Maternal Mortality rate has decreased to 0% and Infant Mortality Rate has decreased by half.
We have worked hard to have our facility upgraded. We are now a Newborn Screening Facility accredited. We are now OPB and TBDOTS Philhealth accredited. Our health workers have worked so hard, they don't deserved to be bypassed.
Now, I don't give a damn who my health workers have voted for during the last elections or will be voting in the next. What I care about is how to compensate them for the excellent work they have done.
It is really frustrating. I would only imagine the other MHO's and CHO's who have been in their areas for so long and would have to face situations like this.
But if I have to be frank, it is things like this that make me all the more think of NOT extending my deployment as a DTTB.
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What is a Night Emergency Clinic? In the town of Candoni, the previous administration has implemented a policy that would cater to emergency cases encountered after office hours. Which means, after 5 pm, there is a team of job order midwives and nurses who would run the so-called Night Emergency Clinic which is supposed to cater only to emergency cases (accidents, traumas, complicated pregnancies, respiratory distress, etc). However, usually, and just like in any other Emergency Room of a hospital, even non-emergency cases would come to the Night Emergency Clinic to seek medical consultation. Which means, since I was deployed as a DTTB, I have been working 24 hours a day 5 days a week. In fact, the Night Emergency clinic was "reformed" to ensure quality service. However, while this is an ambitious and laudable policy, I was expecting that they would also provide fair compensation to the people who are working in the Night Emergency Clinic. So far, they have not fully rewarded their health care workers.
This can be very frustrating, especially to these licensed midwives and nurses who would only earn 150 pesos a day, working for 8 hours per shift. Not fair. Besides, my Magna Carta Rights tell me that I should only be working for a maximum of 8 hours a day as well. But because of this NEC policy, I would find myself answering to calls, even consulting after office hours, perhaps one of the fewest Municipal health Officers who would still do so after office hours, WITHOUT added compensation.
Here's a bold recommendation: if they can't provide support for their NEC staff, why not close the Night Emergency Clinic? It would seem that the municipality cannot afford to sustain the NEC or would deny the NEC the full support they need. In the upcoming local health board meeting, I will be proposing this recommendation. If they cannot find ways to provide ample compensation to our hardworking and deserving job orders, I will invoke my Magna Carta benefits and will from now on strictly adhere to office hours.
Kahapus bung-lon sang tawo, kabudlay kay-uhun sang systema. Believe me, I have been trying.
When I was told that it would be impossible to change culture and promote facility-based deliveries and therefore establish a new mindset when it comes to the role played by the traditional birth attendants in the community, I was discouraged at first. I thought that people would still call their hilots whenever they would deliver their babies. When I gathered all the hilots in the municipality and told them about this policy and advocacy, I was half hopeful and half pessimistic.
In 2007, our facility-based deliveries were only 24%. By the end of 2008, our facility-based deliveries reached close to 80%!
We did our best to improve our health indicators. For the first time in the history of Candoni, our Fully Immunized Children coverage has reached 100%. Our Maternal Mortality rate has decreased to 0% and Infant Mortality Rate has decreased by half.
We have worked hard to have our facility upgraded. We are now a Newborn Screening Facility accredited. We are now OPB and TBDOTS Philhealth accredited. Our health workers have worked so hard, they don't deserved to be bypassed.
Now, I don't give a damn who my health workers have voted for during the last elections or will be voting in the next. What I care about is how to compensate them for the excellent work they have done.
It is really frustrating. I would only imagine the other MHO's and CHO's who have been in their areas for so long and would have to face situations like this.
But if I have to be frank, it is things like this that make me all the more think of NOT extending my deployment as a DTTB.
Post Classified Ads That Produce Results
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