Madam Speaker, I am informed that as at date, for a population of 1.2 million people in Mauritius, there are about 7,400,000 casualty cards and some 2,897,000 patient files in the Health Records Department. The documents are spread across 109 community health centres, 18 area health centres, 12 mediclinics, 2 community hospitals, 5 regional hospitals, 2 district hospitals and 6 specialised hospitals. Among the 7,400,000 casualty cards, around 1,078,000 are active. For 2,897,000 patient files, some 1,712,000 are active. Some 80,300 active patients’ files are handled at the level of hospitals every day. The proper recording of the casualty cards and patient files is carried out by 197 officers of the Health Records Cadre. Madam Speaker, as regards part (b) of the question, I am informed that from November 2024 till date, 19 patient files are found missing, of which, two have been reported lost to the Police. In the meantime, four of them have been recovered while the search is still ongoing for the remaining ones. On the other hand, 24 casualty cards and 349 patient files were unavailable when required as they were in use in other departments within the hospitals. These medical records are ultimately recovered by the Health Records Department. Madam Speaker, with regard to part (a)(i) of the question, I wish to inform the House that all patients whose original files are presently unavailable are provided with appropriate

45 care and treatment on the same day within the least possible delay by resorting to available reports, prescriptions and temporary files until such times that the main file is found. Despite the used number of medical records and movement of files within various departments and hospitals and other medical facilities, officers are doing their best to ensure that these files are properly tracked and kept, and the percentage of human error is almost zero. Madam Speaker, concerning part (a)(ii) of the question, the attention of responsible officers is always drawn to be more cautious while manipulating patient medical records. Senior Health Record Officers are required to ensure that their officers are familiar with and strictly adhere to medical record procedures with a view to ensuring that medical records do not go missing. Madam Speaker, as regards part (b) of the question, health records’ staff are required to report all cases of missing patient files immediately to the Supervisors. These are recorded in register of missing patient file. All hospitals have dedicated experienced officers who deal with missing files until they are available. If ever after thorough search a file is not available, those officers are required to report all cases of missing files to the Police and to inform the headquarters accordingly. Madam Speaker, I am glad to inform the House that Phase 1 of the e-Health Project will soon be launched at the new hospital at Flacq. In the first phase of the roll-out of the project, a Patient Administration System (PAS) would be implemented as well as a patient portal. The project will subsequently be extended to other regional district and specialised hospitals and primary health care centres, including mediclinics. Madam Speaker, the implementation of e-Health Project will further consolidate ‘one patient, one record concept’ and will ensure availability of medical patient data in real time. This technological advancement is expected to eliminate challenges associated with lost or misplaced medical files, offering instant access to crucial patient data with a simple click. The adoption of e-Health system brings a multitude of transformational change as to how healthcare will be delivered and managed. One of the most immediate and impactful advantages is the elimination of issues related to lost or misplace medical files. With the e- Health system, all medical information will be recorded digitally in a centralised and secure database. This will ensure instant and reliable access to crucial patient data for authorised

46 healthcare providers, regardless of the location or time of the day. This immediate accessibility is vital in emergencies during consultations or when a patient moves between different health care centres. Madam Speaker, what the previous government has not been able to do in ten years’ time is being accomplished by this Government in eight months. This is what we call real change!

Yes!

Merci, Madame la présidente. On parle ici du cœur, du mal dans les institutions de santé publique. En attendant le e-Health, le ministre a-t-il envisagé une formation du personnel pour éviter ce genre de désagréments ? Merci.

Training.

Madam Speaker, I have repeatedly explained that they are undergoing training regularly. And I am repeatedly drawing their attention but being given that there is a lack of medical officers, I have been mentioning since the very beginning – 1500 nurses are missing; we don’t have record officers. One record officer is dealing with about 50-60 files on average per day. That becomes extremely impossible and that is the reason why, instead of warning them, threatening them, I am trying to encourage them. I am trying to get them all together because within months, we are going to move from one system to a modern system.

Thank you, hon. Minister! Yes. Dr. Aumeer, the expert.

As part of the question to curb the recurrence of pending, loss files or missing files, can I ask the hon. Minister whether he will consider having a dedicated desk at all out-patients departments in regional hospital on a temporary basis to assist relatives and patients who retrieve notes until and so forth the e-Health System become fully available? Thank you.

You have already taken words from my mouth. In fact, in my budget speech, this is the proposition that I am going to make.

Fantastic! You will all get a chance to have a bite at this issue, which is very important. I have got five minutes left. You insist on another question? Yes, alright!

47

Madame la présidente, le ministre peut-il s’assurer que le personnel médical ait une approche humaine et ne refuse pas des soins aux patients mêmes si on ne retrouve pas son dossier ? Merci.

He mentioned that.

Madam Speaker, all of us are human beings. At times, when they get overloaded, this happens to all of us. So, at times, it does happen and in such a case, we can’t do otherwise because we are human beings.

Thank you, hon. Minister! I have got four minutes left. So, I will try a last question. That would be for the Third Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue. ROUNDABOUTS – MAINTENANCE & EMBELLISHMENT – AWARDED CONTRACT