District Health Teams

District Health Teams and Community Based Care

Working group objective

Develop proposals for the efficient functioning of the district health teams

Table 1 District Health Teams

Issues

Recommendations

Strategies

Personnel Management problems

· Low productivity level amongst staff.

· Lack of communication and interaction amongst health teams

· Inadequate training of staff

· Absence of district medical officer from the health teams

· Inadequate working time spent on duty by district medical officers

Facilities management

· Inadequate and obsolete equipment in health institutions

Information management

Absence of appropriate data for planning, organization and decision making.

Institute mechanisms to enhance motivation and improve self esteem amongst staff

Clearly define roles and responsibilities of all levels of staff

Develop strategies to enhance the flow of communication

Train staff to help improve capacity for quality service

Inclusion of district medical officer in health teams.

District medical officers should be educated on the importance of punctuality and productivity

Conduct an assessment of the equipment needs within health institutions

Improve existing information system

Involve all levels of staff in the decision making process

Establish job descriptions for all levels of staff

Mandate the submission of daily reports by field personnel and monthly reports by supervisors

Determine priority areas and level of training required for staff

Reallocate staff within health institutions

Legislate district medical officers be included in the health teams as part of their terms of reference.

The Public Service should structure doctor’s contract so as to allow health managers the flexibility to dictate scheduling hours.

Purchase more sophisticated technological equipment to meet the health needs of the community

Review record keeping systems to determine health trends and to

monitor care

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