Lodwar-8th January 2024 Public Communications and Media Relations)
The County Health Department has committed to prioritize the strengthening of referral systems at the sub-county level and boost registration of the eligible population to the Social Health Authority (SHA) program in the new year.
According to the CECM for Health Services Dr. Joseph Epem, the initiative will include enhancing the capacity of sub county level health facilities to deliver quality healthcare as opposed to over reliance on the County’s main Hospital at Lodwar for referrals.
Noting that the Lodwar County Referall Hospital was already facing a huge number of patients seeking services and more referrals, the CEC said that strengthening sub county hospitals to take care of non-critical cases would free LCRH to concentrate on service delivery improvement.
At a meeting that brought together Sub-County Health Management Teams (SCHMT), Sub-County Medical Officers of Health (SMoHs), and health directors to review the current referral processes and propose strategies to address gaps, logistical challenges relating to communication, transport and poor coordination were noted as the main hindrances to a strengthened referral system at the sub county level.
“Strengthening referral systems is key to ensuring patients receive timely and specialized care. Our goal is to address gaps and build an effective system that serves all residents, from the grassroots to the county referral hospital,” the CEC Dr. Epem added.
The Chief Officer for Medical Services, Dr. Ezekiel Etelej and, Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Services, Dr. Janerose Tioko, equally emphasized the need to empower SMoHs.
“The SMoHs are the people who will ensure we achieve quality healthcare. By effectively managing referrals, we can reduce the burden on Lodwar County Referral Hospital and allow it to focus on specialized and critical cases.” Dr. Etelej said.
The sub county teams proposed capacity enhancement to handle more cases through provision of staff and infrastructure.
“We need to equip our facilities with essential resources—labs, radiology, and human resources—while maintaining machines and theaters and providing specialists such as gynecologists and pediatricians.” Dr. Mary, the Medical officer in charge of Lopiding sub county hospital said.
Discussions also focused on addressing low Social Health Authority (SHA) registration. Recent data released by the National Ministry of health indicated that Turkana had only registered about 32,000 persons against a population of about a million eligible persons.
The CEC urged the sub county team to vigorously promote SHA at their level by encouraging all eligible persons to register as required.
