Posted by By Sarata Jabbi
A Gambian born UK health professional has recently established a clinic in The Gambia in support of Gambia’s healthcare system. In an interview with him, Mr. Yankuba Jabbi, has mentioned to The Digest News (TDN) his inspiration to build a clinic; how the clinic operates, his views on the healthcare system of the Gambia, etc. The following are the questions posed to Mr Jabbi and his responses to them:
TDN: Tell us about your newly built clinic Jabbi Maidu Clinic (JMC)?
Mr Jabbi: JMC is an outpatient clinic established to provide quality, professional and affordable medical services for the people of the community, and surroundings. We serve patients who seek diagnoses or treatment but does not require overnight care.
TDN: What inspired you to build a clinic?
Mr Jabbi: It has always been my intention to give back the little that I can to serve my country. I always sacrifice constantly during my holidays in The Gambia, going round the hospitals teaching staff about current nursing practices, all geared towards enhancing quality and safe health care delivery in The Gambia. It is in the same vein that I came up with the idea of establishing a clinic in the Gambia that would help complement government efforts and to serve communities with a first class centre that would provide continuum of care, helping patients manage chronic condition such as high blood pressure and diabetes among others
TDN: How does it operate?
Mr Jabbi: Our team consists of physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, nurse attendants, laboratory technicians, pharmacy assistant and cleaner. We offer in patient appointments for individuals and families to meet their needs. We will also promote home visiting in the near future for patients who would find it difficult to attend the clinic. Our opening hours are: Monday – Friday 08:00-20:00pm, Saturday – 09:00-18:00, Sunday – 10:00-16:00
TDN: We understand that you source your medicines from the UK. Do you source from anywhere else?
Mr Jabbi: Presently 99.9% of our medications are from UK. At JMC, we value our customers and they are our priorities. Quality is critical to satisfying our customers and retaining their loyalty-so that they continue to buy from us in the future. We will not compromise with the quality of care.
TDN: What makes JMC different from other clinics, if at all?
Mr Jabbi: A medical clinic is a type of facility that is focused on out-patient services. JMC being an out-patient clinic means that our patients can go home after they receive care.
JMC will endeavour to provide quality care at all times. We will be patient centred and provide care that responds to individual preferences, needs and values. By doing this we will:
– improve patient safety at our premises at all times.
-improve waste environment
-manage use of available resources
-provide equitable care
-respect time and effectively communicate clearly with our patients
Most importantly, we will also involve patients and their relatives in decision-making.
TDN: What is your view about access to healthcare in the Gambia generally?
Mr Jabbi: Although lots of progress has been made in the country’s healthcare delivery, however there are still lots of areas that need to be addressed urgently.
The Gambia is a low income country with limited access to healthcare services. Healthcare services needs to be more accessible and affordable. There is generally lack of community ambulances which is affecting the efficient and effective referral system. The new ambulances injected into the healthcare system would help greatly if utilised properly. The following are also a great concern:
-Poor infrastructure and maintenance in our hospitals and health centres.
-High rate of infant, maternal mortality
-High population growth rate
-Poor record keeping and data management
-Lack of mechanisms to boost employee satisfaction and motivation in healthcare
-Inadequate financial and logistic support from the Ministry of Health
-Shortage of adequately and appropriately trained healthcare staff.
TDN: Thank you for your time
Mr Jabbi: The pleasure is mine