17 Apr 2019

A Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund official Ms Buyani Chidoda has called for systematic collaboration between the organisation and social workers in providing post hospital discharge care and support to road accident victims.

Speaking on April 16 during a forum between MVA and Lobatse Town Council social workers in Lobatse recently, Ms Chidoda said the fund’s claimants lived within communities in which social workers served.

She explained that the fund’s duties included assisting motor vehicle accident victims by covering victims’ medical costs, costs of referrals for further intensive rehabilitation and providing hospital visits to check progress of victims.

Ms Chidoda said in cases of severe injuries,  the fund provided post-discharge assistance such as provision of caregiving training and assistive devices such as wheelchairs and also helped to modify victims’ houses for ease of access in cases of permanent disability.

“What we have been doing wrong as MVA Fund was that we did not involve social workers in provision of post-discharge assistance. Sometimes we did this alone without the involvement of social workers. But when the person goes home after being discharged from hospital they are put in the database of district social workers,” said Ms Chidoda.

She said in cases of casualties of breadwinners, the fund paid loss of support benefits to dependents of the deceased.

“Most of these children who are eligible for loss of support benefits are in your database, therefore you are even in a better position to inform us about their living conditions because you see them regularly while we see them once in a year,” she said.

She said lack of collaboration had resulted in gaps because the two entities did not meet to inform each other about the client’s needs.

Ms Chidoda said the forum was organised in order to close those gaps.

 “I believe there is a point where we should converge in providing services to our clients. Our mandate is not far from what social workers do. We have realised that we can tap into the knowledge and availability of social workers to help us reach out to our clientele in districts,” she said, pointing that out the number of fund claimants had increased over the years.

Lobatse deputy town clerk, Mr Oganne Gontse welcomed the idea stating that collaboration between social workers and MVA Fund was very critical.

Mr Gontse said the two entities should synergize each other to achieve maximum realization of their objectives since they served the same customer.

 “Collaboration will take both of us further because we do similar things,” he said. ENDS