A newly released report focusing on patient empowerment produced by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health has cited systems put in place by Narayana Health, Bangalore, India, the parent company of Health City Cayman Islands, as important points of reference that the UK could follow in a bid to improve its own healthcare system.

The report, entitled, ‘Patient empowerment: for better quality, more sustainable health services globally’, addresses the issue of how patients and their relatives can be better involved in the decision-making process of their illness and take responsibility for elements of their care. It looks to various examples globally as to how this can be achieved. The report stated, “Providing care in this way isn’t just a vital component of good quality, it’s also essential to the sustainability of health systems for the future”.

The report also stated: “We found there is a great deal the UK can learn from other countries about transforming systems, behaviours, and mindsets to change the patient role.”

In particular, the Care Companion programme at Narayana Health Hospital, Bangalore, India, was highlighted as a success story worthy of attention.

The report identified how the Care Companion programme aimed to empower the caregivers of at-risk patients with the skills they needed to take better care of their loved ones back at home. It notes that the hospital’s leaders say that 100 percent of trainees report the programme as ‘very useful’ and that they integrate very well into the day-to-day running of the hospital, resulting in a repositioning of family members as an integral part of patient care (while reducing the workload for hospital staff).

Dr. Chandy Abraham, Medical and Facility Director at Health City Cayman Islands, Cayman’s new private hospital specialising in tertiary care for cardiac, orthopaedic, pulmonary and paediatric endocrinology, stated the fact that the report has identified Narayana Health in this way was a testament to the hospital and how it was viewed as a global leader in the provision of healthcare.

“Narayana Health has played a vital role in improving the provision of healthcare not just in India but globally,” Dr. Chandy Abraham said. “By introducing concepts such as patient empowerment through its Care Companion programme, Narayana Health has managed to achieve what was unthinkable just a decade ago – affordable healthcare for the general public that continues to exceed quality benchmarks at the same time. We are delighted that the UK All Parliamentary Group and Global Health have recognized that the Care Companion programme is worthy of serious consideration in assisting the improvement of the UK’s own healthcare system.”

Dr Chandy adds that there are plans for Health City Cayman Islands to implement this programme in the near future, as this is a component of the patient centred care that will be a hallmark for the Health City Cayman Islands.

The government will introduce value-added tax (VAT)
at a rate of 7.5
percent "across the board" on January 1, 2015, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced yesterday.
However, Christie added that the lowered rate would also come with "few exemptions" and no duty reductions, which is a substantial change from the model the government was previously considering.
"Being able to streamline exemptions and position the VAT rate much lower than in the white paper, the government is not announcing any wide-scale reduction in import duties and excise taxes at this time," said Christie while delivering the budget statement in the House of Assembly.
"Based on the revenue performance of VAT early next year, the government may be in a position to consider tariff and excise reductions at the time of the 2015/2016 budget."
Government officials previously warned that the government would have to reconsider its proposed reductions on customs duties if the VAT rate is reduced.
The government previously announced plans to lower customs
duties on a variety of goods once VAT is implemented.
Christie said yesterday the list of exemptions will be released "shortly".
The tax was initially expected to be introduced on July 1 at a rate of 15 percent.
However, Christie said following advice from local and international experts the government has abandoned that plan.
He said the delayed date will allow a more in depth public education campaign and private sector preparation.
Christie also revealed that the government intends to establish an education task force.
"A three-person task force is being established to oversee this process, which will dovetail with the government's internal activities and provide timely feedback to the Ministry of Finance on the appropriate emphasis of public education," he said.
"The task force will have a budget of $150,000 at its disposal. They will be tasked with the job of helping to explain the VAT to the business community and the wider public."
Christie said the new VAT model proposed will be less cumbersome and complex.
He said the government's VAT unit will also provide VAT training workshops.
In regards to what impact the new proposed model will have on the country's finances, Christie said it is expected to significantly boost revenue.
"As such, on the basis of the detailed revenue modeling work that was performed by the team of IMF fiscal experts for our benefit, we estimate, again prudently and conservatively, that the VAT as proposed above will yield on the order of three percent of GDP on a full-year basis," he said.
"Given the date of implementation, that will amount to some 1.5 per cent of GDP in 2014/2015.
All told, the measures that I have outlined above are expected to boost the revenue yield of our revenue system by 2.7 percent of GDP in 2014/2015."

The Ingraham administration's legislative efforts to guarantee a three-year cellular monopoly to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) in 2011 will essentially delay competition until 2015, Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday.
CWC's monopoly on the cellular market expired on April 6, 2014.
"The evidence is clear, supported by the record, that the intention at the time the 51 percent was negotiated and agreed, was to ensure that the issue of competition in cellular mobile services was so legislated that competition would be unequivocally denied to Bahamians de jure until April 2014 and de facto until, essentially, 2015; having regard to the logistics for introducing competition," said Christie in his 2014/2015 budget communication in the House of Assembly.
Christie charged that there was no reason for the Ingraham administration to legislate cellular competition.
"There was no reasonable possibility for the government to introduce, or even start the process to introduce, a second cellular mobile operator before the end of the monopoly period," he said.
"Such a possibility of competition in cellular mobile services was decisively and unequivocally blocked, and eliminated altogether, by a combination of calculated actions in 2011 on the part of the previous administration."
Shadow Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest said Christie's claims are exaggerated.
"I find it very hard to believe that the government would have been restrained from setting up the framework such that on the day of the expiration of the monopoly it could not immediately issue whatever request for proposals (RFP) it wanted to solicit investment in the sector," Turnquest said.
"I believe the fact of the matter is that they just weren't ready, again."
The Ingraham administration sold 51 percent of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) in 2011 amid widespread public disapproval.
Christie said the government is moving swiftly to award the second cellular license in the country in the shortest possible time.
He said the government established a task force to prepare to award the license following the expiration of CWC's monopoly.
"The task force's most immediate mandate is to formulate the competitive selection process that would be used by government to select the second cellular provider," he said.
"Already, significant headway has been made in this regard.
"In the last few weeks the task force has been consulting with the sector regulator, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), toward finalizing a request for proposals (RFP) document."
He said the RFP will be comprised of two phases -- an evaluation phase and a spectrum auction.
Christie said the government anticipates the entire selection process to take up to six months.
"The new provider should be able to launch services within an additional six months, with a view to achieving maximum coverage throughout The Bahamas in the shortest possible timeframe," he added.
BTC deal
In January, Christie and CWC CEO Phil Bentley announced that CWC agreed to transfer two percent of its shares in BTC back to the Bahamian people.
The deal has not yet been executed though.
Christie promised yesterday that the shares will be returned to the Bahamian people.
"Let there be no doubt that once the documents containing the definitive agreement are executed, majority economic interest in BTC will be returned to the Bahamian people," he said.

An adult died in a fire that destroyed a residence in Adelaide Village early yesterday morning.
The victim was burned beyond recognition, according to police.
Superintendent Walter Evans, head of Fire Services, said when firefighters arrived at the residence around 1 a.m., it was completely engulfed in flames.
He said the victim's remains were found inside the one-story house after the blaze was extinguished.
Investigators have not ruled out arson, according to Evans, but because the investigation is ongoing, he could not say what started the blaze.
Asked whether anyone else was at home at the time of the fire, Evans said from all reports no one else was home.
He said relatives of the victim, whose identity was not released, have met with officials.
A DNA analysis and autopsy will determine the cause of death, sex and identity of the victim, Evans said.