Kenyans urged to demand quality healthcare

SafeCare Health Programme director Nicole Spieker (2nd left) and Kiambu County Executive in charge of Clinical Services Dr Francis Thuita (l) present a certificate to David Njuguna and Grace Njuguna proprietors of Ahadi Maternity and Health Clinic at Kagwe in Kiambu County. PHOTO | ANNE MACHARIA

By  ANNE MACHARIA

What you need to know:

  • Public and private health facilities in the country have been urged to ensure they offer quality healthcare at all times.
  • They should also embrace continuous improvement of the health services.
  • Among the values a health institution should embrace include quality improvement.
  • 1,000 facilities across five countries have enrolled in the SafeCare programme.

Kenyans have been urged to demand quality healthcare both from private and public hospitals.

At the same time, public and private health facilities in the country have been urged to ensure they offer quality healthcare at all times.

They have also been urged to embrace continuous improvement of the health services they offer to patients.

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Speaking at the Ahadi Maternity and Health Care Clinic at Kagwe in Kiambu County, Head of Quality Assurance at the Ministry of Health Francis Muma said quality healthcare was a basic right for all Kenyans, and one which they should demand for.

Mr Muma said among the values a health institution should embrace, quality improvement must be among the top ones. This, he said, can be enriched through the use client feedback.

EMBRACE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

“Offering quality care and services to patients is not an option. All health facilities irrespective of whether they are public or private should embrace quality improvement as part of their culture,” said Mr Muma.

He was speaking at a function where a programme dubbed 'SafeCare Programme' was celebrating the presence of 1,000 facilities in five African countries, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and Namibia.

“With 1,000 facilities in five African countries enrolled in the programme, and new ones joining every day, SafeCare is determined to raise the bar for the quality of service patients all over Africa should demand for,” said Nicole Spieker, the director of the SafeCare Programme,

In Kenya, SafeCare has partnered with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to introduce quality standards in all facilities enrolled with NHIF.

At least 350 facilities are part of the programme implemented by PharmAccess in partnership with Population Services International (PSI).

ENJOY INCENTIVES

Public and private health facilities under the SafeCare programme enjoy incentives that encourage continuous improvement in the quality of health infrastructure used, services offered, hygiene, human resources and medicine given which must conform to national standards.

“The better a facility performs, the more health financing it receives,” Ms Spieker said.

She added that the program was implemented with financing from USAID, the Dutch government and Gates Foundation.

It helps clinics to offer quality primary and secondary healthcare services to communities in both rural and urban areas. It especially targets the poor and vulnerable.

So far, 1,000 facilities across the five countries have enrolled in the programme.

This has in turn translated to safe and optimal healthcare services to about one million patients every month despite resource constraints.

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