21 Jul 2015

The Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with USAID, has introduced the Intra Human Resource Information System (iHRIS) open software to better manage the health workforce.

Speaking at a meeting to introduce the system recently, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ms Shenaaz El-Halabi said iHRIS would reduce challenges in human resource management.

She stated that with the iHRIS system in place, it would be easier to know the headcount of nurses and doctors across the country as well as to identify places which need health workers.

Ms El-Halabi said the system would track graduates from health schools and how they were distributed across the country. She said the system would also provide information on the number of retired health workers and how to replace them.

She said human capital was an integral component of the health system. She added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) emphasised the need to have the right number of people with the right skills in the right places at the right time. She said this makes for efficient and effective delivery of health care services in the country.

For her part, the senior human resource manager in the Ministry of Health, Ms Dikeledi Phefo said the system would facilitate effective human resource planning and provide easy access to information.

She said it would also be beneficial to the ministry in terms of saving administration costs and time. She noted that the system has been rolled out to three district hospitals and two referral hospitals.

Human resource advisor and programme manager, Ms Scholastica Williams said the iHRIS was a management tool that enables an organisation to design and manage a comprehensive human resource strategy.

She said the iHRIS has been set up at Princess Marina Hospital, greater Gaborone, Kweneng East, greater Francistown and Nyangabwe Hospital, complete with populated databases.

She said employees have been trained on how to use the system. The software allows healthcare managers to plan, develop and manage a workforce efficiently and effectively in order to meet their national and institutional health objectives. ENDS