New and renovated bonds to avoid offsite storage of medical supplies - Harmon

New and renovated bonds to avoid offsite storage of medical supplies – Harmon

Oct 20, 2018 News

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence is the only person who can fully explain matters surrounding the contamination of drugs and medical supplies that were stored at Ocean View International Hotel. This is what Minister of State, Joseph Harmon told the media yesterday as he hosted a post-Cabinet press briefing.
Harmon said, “I am not in a position to address it, it was not dealt with at Cabinet.”
The Minister indicated that he only became aware of the issue after he read yesterday’s newspaper. Harmon also said that he is aware that the government is exploring measures to avoid instances where office site storage may be needed. He said that the Ministry of Public Health is in the process of renovating a bond and building a new one for the storage of pharmaceuticals.
Yesterday, this newspaper reported that while it was paying $25M per month to use a house in Sussex Street as a drug bond, the APNU+AFC Government still found it necessary to store medical supplies at Ocean View International Hotel.
This was revealed in the Auditor General’s report covering a review of the fiscal year ended 2017.
The Auditor General noted, “…the drugs were stored in seven hotel rooms. The manner in which the items were packed made it difficult to conduct a stock count as the items were not arranged in a manner that made them easy of access and check.
“In addition, there was evidence of termite infestation in the rooms and damages (sic) to the boxes and items stored. The extent of the damage could not be determined at the time of physical count.”
The ministry responded that it had taken a decision to utilize the Ocean View offsite “to store medical supplies rather than pharmaceuticals, which need A/C’s to maintain potency.
The proprietors have treated the rooms against termites and rodents to avoid damage to the items.”
The Audit Office recommended that the Ministry “take immediate steps to ensure that the Stores Regulations is (sic) complied with, as it relates to the accounting for stores.”
But that was not the only problem highlighted by the Auditor General. As it turns out, the Audit Office has been unable to find formal agreement for rental of the property or the other offsite locations that were being used.
The report stated, “There was no evidence that rent was paid to the owners of the facilities and audit checks revealed that the Ministry did not enter into contracts with the owners for the storage of the items”.
The Ministry of Public Health responded that the Ministry had sought the assistance of corporate citizens to have the items stored at the offsite locations temporarily, since the construction of bonds was ongoing.
The Audit Office recommended that the Ministry take action to ensure that contracts are put in place that meet the requirements of the Procurement Act 2013, especially as they relate to the terms and conditions that would indemnify the government from financial loss.

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