22 Mar 2018

Ministry of Health and Wellness has trained ARV Nurse prescribers and dispensers to augment medical doctors in initiating and reviewing of ARV patients.

The assistant minister, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele told Parliament on March 21 that due to critical shortage of doctors, ARV patients in Mokubilo, Mmeya, Mosu, Khwee and Makgaba villages had not been reviewed by medical doctors for the past seven to 19 months.

Mr Makgalemele said doctors last visited the said villages in August 2017 except for Khwee which was last visited in August 2016.

However, he said his ministry was expecting to post three medical officers to Letlhakane East in April 2018.

“This is expected to increase the number of visits to health facilities by medical officers,” he said.

He was responding to a question by Boteti East MP Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe who wanted to know if it was true that ARV patients in Mokubilo, Mmeya, Mosu, Khwee and Makgaba villages had not been reviewed by a medical doctor in the past 24 to 36 months.

He also wanted to know the last time the doctor visited all the sites during the past three years and when doctors would be posted there.

Still in Parliament, the assistant minister said the clinics in Mmeya, Mokubilo, Khwee, Makgaba and Mosu villages were not part of the COHSASA accreditation programme but part of a programme of the ministry for the implementation of National Health Quality Standards (NHQS).

“These local standards have been adapted from the COHSASA accreditation standards,” he said.

In addition, Mr Makgalemele said the Boteti East district was scheduled to be enrolled in the programme of the NHQS implementation in the 2019/2 020 financial year.

Mr Makgalemele said the enrolment of health posts was scheduled to take place in the 2019/2020 financial year and the compliance level of these facilities would be determined following their enrolment into the NHQS implementation programme.

Answering a question in Parliament, Mr Makgalemele noted the clinics and health posts would not go through the accreditation programme.

“Once the clinics or health posts reach a satisfactory level of compliance to the national health quality standards, the facilities will be certified,” he added.

MP for Boteti east Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe, had asked the assistant minister about programmes in place for the accreditation of clinics in Mmeya, Mokubilo, Khwee, Makgaba and Mosu villages by the council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa. Ends