Cornwall Regional Hospital staff graduate customer-service course

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Seventy-six members of the Cornwall Regional Hospital's (CRH) Accident and Emergency Department graduated from an eight-week customer-service training course with Montego Bay-based training services provider, Training Tree, on Tuesday.

The graduation, which took place at the CRH executive boardroom, heralded the conclusion of the participants' 64-hour training course, which began in early May and ended in early July. The participants underwent training in eight areas, including Professional and Personal Life Balance, Communication, Listening Skills, Teamwork, Customer Service Skills, and Handling Complaints.

The members of the Accident and Emergency Department who participated in the training course included doctors, nurses, radiologists, ward assistants, data-entry clerks, registration clerks, customer-service representatives, housekeepers, porters, and security officers.

"Dr Carol Thompson-Forbes, the lead consultant for the Accident and Emergency Department, started negotiations with me from last year about customer service training for the department employees when Everton Anderson (former CRH chief executive officer) was at the hospital," said Training Tree director Natasha Parchment-Clarke.

"We finally got through, the plan was approved, and I started training in May for all members of the department."

Expand training

While noting that this was the first time Training Tree was manning a training series for a specific department at the hospital, Parchment-Clarke said that plans are in place to expand training for the entire hospital.

"Already, the hospital CEO, Anthony Smikle, has said he would like to resume negotiations to do broader training for the hospital, but there's nothing concrete as yet," said Parchment-Clarke. "The ward assistants are having a convention in October, and they are securing me to do a presentation there at the hospital for them."

Full Caption

Dr. Carol thompson-Forbes (left), lead
consultant for Cornwall Regional Hospital's Accident and Emerency
(A&E) Department in Montego Bay, and Natasha Parchment-clarke
(right), director of Montego Bay-based training services provider
Training Tree, pose for a group photo with members of the A&E
Department who recently graduated from an eight-week customer service
training course - photo by Christopher Thomas.