In an effort to strengthen the partnership between the private and public sectors of the health-care system, Sandy Crest Medical Services has made a donation to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).Dr Brian Charles, managing director of Sandy Crest Medical Services, recently donated a Health-O-Meter Professional Portable Digital Paediatric Scale to the QEH’s Paediatric Department.Charles, in noting a call from Minister of Health Donville Inniss for a partnership between private and public sectors in health, said: “We would like to see this partnership succeed in the interest of the health-care of wider Barbados.”He added that Sandy Crest, being a public institution, also had responsibility for the health standards of the general public. Many patients of Sandy Crest were referred to the QEH, Charles said, and hence the continuum of care extended from Sandy Crest to the QEH.Referring to the scale, the Sandy Crest managing director said it was used to accurately measure the weight of infants and was useful in monitoring patterns in growth. He added that since medicine for children was dispensed or prescribed per unit weight, it was important to have the accurate weight of the patient.Dr Delores Lewis, acting director of medical services at the QEH, expressed gratitude for the donation. Lewis said the equipment would certainly help the nursery and Paediatric Department in the management of the children. “We look forward to such donations not only from Sandy Crest but the private sector in general in assisting the hospital to provide excellent health- care to the citizens of Barbados,” she said. (LK)

