The mobilisation officer for the Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency (CRSPHCDA), Mrs Nsa Ekpenyong, has charged healthcare workers in the state to operate within their scope.
Ekpenyong made the call during the weekend in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune at the end of a five-day training for frontline healthcare workers in Cross River organised by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMH).
The Tribune online reports that the training, which started on April 15, is an initiative of the Minister of Health, Professor Mohammad Pate, aimed at upskilling 120,000 healthcare workers in public health institutions in the nation.
It was also gathered that the training was sponsored by the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) through Management Sciences for Health in Cross River and Zamfara to strengthen the health service systems for the best public health outcomes.
The mobilisation officer said as far as primary healthcare centres (PHCs) were concerned in Cross River, they have the necessary equipment to operate, but if a client reports a case that is beyond the PHC, they are expected to refer such a client.
She said the main lesson people learned during the five-day training was that referring a case to a primary health care centre shows how effective a health worker is.
“When a client presents a case that is beyond your level of operation, don’t kill yourself; just refer. At every level of PHC, we operate based on our limitations; don’t exit that.
“In fact, referring a case to the PHC shows how efficient you are as a health worker,” she said.
Speaking further, Ekpenyong noted that she hopes healthcare service delivery in the state will improve significantly as the training programme will be expanded to 18 local government areas (LGAs) in the state as well as primary healthcare centres.
She added that health workers have been taught that at the community level, health education is the key to improving healthy lifestyles, and they will focus on education to fill the knowledge gap.
Similarly, another participant in the training, Mrs Ekaete Ekpenyong, said the training would improve service delivery in the state and enhance the achievement of universal health coverage.
Ekpenyong emphasised that she intends to conduct outreach visits to advisory committees in every LGA in the state to ensure that they participate in the training and also ensure that the training reaches all LGAs.
However, she noted that going forward, the state must ensure the availability of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and supporting documentation in all healthcare facilities.
“All our old modules should be reviewed to ensure that we print new ones and paste them at every point of service delivery, so it will serve as a guide when we are rendering services at facility levels,” she added.
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