Vital Statistics Commission of Jamaica - Planning Institute of Jamaica

Audit of Vital Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Jamaica
statistics divisions from the various police stations. For the two departments we visited, PCbased
applications are used for reporting basic statistics. Kingston Police Department is
using the MS Access application for collection and reporting; Spanish Town Police
Department is using MS Word, but plans to implement MS Access. While this information
is not gathered for the express purpose of death registration or statistics, RGD has recognized
the usefulness of this information as a check on their number of registrations. This
information is sent to RGD only on an as-requested basis, usually by download to diskette.
HUMAN RESOURCES
MOH and Hospital Staff
There is no system in place to measure individual or departmental performance with respect
to the collection of birth, stillbirth, and death information and the completion of the
appropriate forms. Staff, including senior management, of the hospitals we visited (Kingston
Public Hospital, Spanish Town Hospital, and Victoria Jubilee Hospital) did not seem to have
a strong understanding of the procedures involving the reporting of births, stillbirths, and
deaths. In several instances, we were told that hospital procedures for filling out forms are
often not followed. The National Director for Medical Records (NDMR) indicated to us that
a procedures manual developed by MOH exists, but that she believes few people read it. The
NDMR suggested that we may want to recommend an orientation for the medical staff
concerning the written medical record policy. In addition, the NDMR believes that midwifes
need to be better trained in the gathering and reporting of birth information.
There is no formal training of medical record staff, only on-the-job training, and no
established competency model for these staff. Management acknowledged that people were
hired with skills deficiencies and then provided on-the-job training to meet minimal job
requirements. We were also told that the technical college education for medical record
technicians supposedly does not include prerequisite courses in chemistry and physiology but
we did not validate that issue.
RGD
With regard to recruitment of staff, unit managers are responsible for reviewing job
descriptions every year and, as necessary, modifying the job descriptions to accommodate
needed changes in requirements. The RGD has an assessment center for evaluating
employment candidates which utilizes a psychometric analysis tool and checks references.
We reviewed standard interview questions, job descriptions, and an orientation checklist, and
found them to be adequate. Quarterly and annual performance reviews are conducted of all
employees and reviews are a performance metric of managers. We reviewed several of the
performance reviews and found them to be thorough.
When we reviewed the competency profile of RGD staff for 2005, we discovered a listing of
job descriptions and summaries of the skills and experiences of the incumbents in the
position, not a catalog of the competencies for success in a given position. Nevertheless, we
found that data entry standards and procedures are rigorous and that the data entry staff are
held to these standards. Those data entry staff with substandard ratings and high error rates
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