Dr. Atonio Lalabalavu, the Minister for Health and Medical Services, acknowledged challenges associated with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. His comments came during a parliamentary session where independent Opposition Member Jone Usamate inquired about the benefits of the PPP model for healthcare.
Lalabalavu explained that the PPP initiative was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance medical services. He noted that every agreement carries potential risks, and inadequate preparatory work can lead to current issues. He identified several risks, including a lack of understanding of the PPP concept, weak institutional capacity within public sector agencies, the fading momentum of donor-driven PPPs, ineffective monitoring, limited sustainable resources, political influences, and difficulties in maintaining PPP agreements at specific sites.
Despite these challenges, he highlighted positive outcomes from the partnership between Healthcare Fiji and Aspen Medical, which has introduced new services, improving healthcare standards at Lautoka Hospital. Improvements such as a modern Accident and Emergency department, new radiology equipment, and the establishment of a cardiology unit for low-risk cardiac cases were noted.
Lalabalavu stated that since taking office, he and his team have been reviewing the concessionaire agreement to ensure that health considerations are prioritized from the beginning of any health-related initiative. Additionally, he mentioned other advantages of the PPP initiative, including outsourced laundry and security services.
He provided updates on the ongoing free medicine scheme, which currently has 59,000 registered participants, alongside 490 individuals registered under the kidney dialysis subsidy scheme. As of now, 17 general practitioners (GPs) were part of the GP scheme, with that number increasing to 59.
Currently, four hospitals have outsourced their security services, and five hospitals have outsourced housekeeping services, including CWM, Labasa, Nadi, Sigatoka, and Navosa.