A SUBMISSION has been made to use the services and infrastructure of hotels as a model for public hospitals around the country.
This was raised by Nadi resident and former hotelier Jackson Mar at the National Budget public consultation held in Korovuto this week.
“Our hospital infrastructure has dilapidated and is dirty and unhygienic,” Mr Mar said.
“I think there needs to be a major shift in how we manage and operate our hospitals.
“We need a titanic shift in how we do it.”
He said essential equipment in hospitals were not functioning well.
“I’ve been a hotel executive for 300 room hotels and for over 50 years; the way we manage our infrastructure and how we manage our service it should be a model for the hospitals. In terms of infrastructure standards, cleanliness and in terms of our service.
“So really to do that, Government cannot contract out maintenance; like the hotel industry we have our own staff on board 24 hours a day and seven days a week.”
Mr Mar said hospitals needed to have a skilled maintenance team.
“There is a service that needs to be done over a period of time, and this is all put into a computer so that each day you will have a print out of what is needed to be maintained.
“So that it is preventative maintenance, and we will not have the level of breakdowns in hospitals.”
In response, Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad said CWM Hospital had its own maintenance team before.
“We used to have that system where CWM would have its own carpenter, joiner, technician,” Prof Prasad said.
“Now all that was changed.”
