The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment commenced a two-day Inventory Management Workshop on Thursday, 5th March in collaboration with the OECS/Pharmaceutical Procurement Services, under the theme “Improving Health care through Effective Inventory Management”, at the Frenches House in Kingstown.

The workshop targeted professionals at the Central Medical Stores, the main procurement unit in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, as well as pharmacists and other Ministry of Health professionals involved in the procurement process and management of supplies, and saw both a practical and theoretical component being used to effectively improve the management of inventory here. The training fell in line with the Ministry’s mandate towards providing quality and exceptional health care and services to the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The workshop also aimed to improve efficiency and accountability within the relevant departments and the Ministry on a whole, as well as to equip officers with the tools necessary to forecast and manage the distribution of supplies used in the public health system.

At the opening ceremony, Permanent Secretary, Mr. Luis De Shong said that our Central Medical Stores is one of the most extensively used facilities throughout the national Health sector, and that it is also one of the areas where a large amount of money is spent. This, he said, emphasises the need for proper planning, designing and organising the facility in a manner which would result in efficient clinical and administrative services. He said that it is, therefore, of utmost necessity that we optimise the utilisation of scarce resources in our attempts to advance the services which we provide.

De Shong further encouraged the participants to make use of the training and said that the training will be beneficial, given that there is a need to balance the conflicting economics of overstocking, thereby tying up capital, in an attempt to guard against imminent challenges, such as storage space, spoilage, pilferage and obsolescence. One of the ingredients, then, of good health delivery, he said, is the availability of good quality material, whether it is disposable, reusable or consumable.

In giving an overview of the program, Mr. Francis Burnett, Head of Unit at the OECS/PPS outlined the planned activities for the two days and assured participants that it would be well worth the time and monies invested in receiving such training. Burnett’s professional and composed approach was beneficial in motivating participants to anticipate a compact and fully beneficial training session.