A two-day summit was recently hosted by the Gauteng Department of Health at which various experts shared ideas on how best to reconfigure service delivery models to optimise primary and district healthcare services, and the need to embrace more digital technology.
IOL reports that the District Health System (DHS) strategy and service delivery model reconfiguration event focused on improving access to healthcare services, aligning with the objective of achieving universal healthcare coverage.
Delegates included representatives from the World Health Organisation, senior managers from the Health Department and other provincial departments.
Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko highlighted the increasing demands accompanying the rising burden of disease and emerging communicable diseases, and the necessity for a strategic review of the service packages and norms at all levels.
“As the pressure on beds at higher levels of care explodes, there is a clogging of the system, forcing lower levels of care to begin to take more responsibility for services outside their scope and package of services,” she said.
“The most immediate, and evident … is to pump more resources to higher levels of care that manage the manifestations of a sick populace rather than deal with the problem by pumping resources into the course of the sickness by increasing investment in health promotion and disease prevention programmes.”
The MEC called for a rethinking of care models and the promotion of health through digitally-driven primary healthcare services.
“Opportunities abound for us to rethink … maximising the utilisation of our foot soldiers and mobile facilities that provide care closer to the people. Now is the time.”
The summit also resolved to introduce digital innovations like telemedicine and platforms like Hello Doctor, along with digitally enhanced mobile facilities to take healthcare closer to the community.
Nkomo-Ralehoko urged stakeholders to reflect on DHS performance and its failures, and to develop strategies to help establish and sustain a healthy nation.
“Programmes at community level can never be a one-department intervention – they require partnerships and collective efforts, especially from those in the social cluster,” she said.
The session concluded with a roadmap towards efficient and effective healthcare delivery by 2029, focusing on innovative service models and lessons learned from past experiences.
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