NEWLY appointed Ministry of Health and Medical Services permanent secretary Dr Aalisha Sahukhan plans to visit health facilities and consult staff across the country to identify challenges and address bottlenecks in the health system.
Dr Sahukhan said her immediate priority was to engage with health workers, listen to their concerns and understand what needed to be done to improve service delivery.
“There’s a lot to do in the Ministry of Health, and so many opportunities as well,” she said.
She said her first few weeks in the role would focus on meeting colleagues in the field, including those in the Central Division, to hear their views on the health system.
“These first few weeks, my intent is really to go around the country as well as here in Central Division and talk to my colleagues in the field about what their thoughts on the health system, and really ask a lot of questions,” Dr Sahukhan said.
Having worked within the ministry, she said she was familiar with many of its existing challenges and successes.
However, she wanted to hear directly from staff about the difficulties they faced in their daily work and identify practical ways to address them.
“Of course, I come from within the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, so I’m aware of a lot of the challenges that we have as well as the successes that we have within the ministry.”
Dr Sahukhan said understanding frontline workers’ concerns would help her determine how she could support them in her new role.
