Health minister Jeanne Atherden says the Bermuda Government is aiming to ensure better and more affordable healthcare as part of its reform plan.

During the Health Strategy Symposium 2016 being held today at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the minister outlined the goals of the Bermuda Health Action Plan.

The aim is to achieve the goals within a five-year period, but Ms Atherden did not go into detail about how those goals will be reached.

“So what is the Bermuda Health Strategy trying to achieve?” Ms Atherden asked. “Simply stated, it aims to achieve health reform. It is resetting the dial to change the way we provide, pay for and use health services, so we get better quality and better value. We all want and deserve that.

“Why are we doing this? Because, as I think you all know, our health system is unsustainable. Health costs need to be brought under control fully, premiums need to be affordable, chronic diseases need to be managed better to keep people healthy and avoid further costs, and we need to use health services responsibly, in ways that give good value not just more volume.

“To make our health system sustainable, a lot is going to have to change, and every resident of this Island will have a part to play.”

Ms Atherden said the Government would spend no more than the $693 million that the health system already spends, saying that “good quality care is the most cost-effective care”.

“Good quality care doesn’t delay access, doesn’t over-treat, but it provides care in the right setting and engages patients in decisions to manage their own care,” she said. “Good quality care results in good health outcomes and this, ultimately, is cheaper for all of us.”

The Minister outlined 14 goals to achieve the core values of the strategy — quality, equity and sustainability.

These goals were access to basic coverage, affordable contributions, appropriate overseas care, paying for quality, electronic health records, address long-term care, standards of care, financing efficiency, regulate health technology, more health promotion, co-ordinate healthcare delivery, tackle chronic non-communicable disease, and subsidise the vulnerable.

Others due to speak at today’s symposium include acting CEO for the Bermuda Health Council, Tawana Wedderburn; chief medical officer, Cheryl Peek-Ball; acting director for the Health Insurance Department, Calvin White; chief of staff at the Bermuda Hospitals Board, Michael Weitekamp; and Martha Dismont, who is on the Inter-Agency Committee for Children and Families.