Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) as the National Specialist Referral and Teaching Hospital is advancing to providing specialized health care as expected in the National Health Plan 2021-2030.
Specialized healthcare requires high-specialized skills, medical equipment, instruments, drugs and consumables. Most of this expertise is not available in the country.
Last week, four Singaporean health specialists visited PMGH to conduct pediatric laparoscopic surgeries with the local team. The visiting team consisted of two surgeons and two anesthetists from KK Women's and Children’s Hospital in Singapore.
The team leader is Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Rambha Rai who was accompanied by Prof Dr. Low Yee (Pediatric Surgeon), Dr. Lee Shu Ying (Senior Paediatric Anaesthetist) and Dr. Pang Sing Ying (Paediatric Anaesthetist).
PMGH Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Jack Mulu, said the main purpose of the visit was to teach and transfer the appropriate skills and knowledge to the local team to perform laparoscopic surgeries independently on children.
Most of the local nurses and surgeons had undergone short-term training at the KK Hospital.
Dr. Mulu further explained that laparoscopic surgery is done through one or more small incisions, using small tubes and tiny cameras and specialized surgical instruments. This procedure helps the patients to recover faster after the surgery and reduces the length of hospital stay.
Dr. Mulu was the first recipient of the partnership award when he visited KK Hospital as an observer. His attachment had now paved the way for Dr. Beena Dagam and six paediatric perioperative nurses to do hands-on training on minimally invasive surgery earlier this year.
Dr. Rambha Rai elaborated that the Singapore Health team visit this year is the sequel of the visits in the past pre-COVID years in managing certain complex surgical conditions in children.
“The local anaesthetic and surgical team have the skills and knowledge to perform paediatric laparoscopic surgery. However, they need paediatric laparoscopic instruments, paediatric Intensive Care Unit and other essential services like radiology, pathology and pharmacy to fully deliver laparoscopic minimally invasive surgeries,” Dr. Rai said.
PMGH CEO, Dr. Paki Molumi, said PMGH is working hard through its corporate plan to ensure that clinical staff are well equipped and supported to deliver necessary specialized healthcare to Papua New Guineans by 2025.