• Restates Commitment to Qualitative Health Care
The Lagos State Government has disclosed that it would engage the services of franchise companies to monitor health facilities for better coverage and improvement in the quality of healthcare delivery.
The Board Chairman, Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) Dr. Yemisi Sholanke-Koya, who disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to newsmen at the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
She stated that the agency would embark on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in which some of the functions of the agency are contracted to private organisations to enhance efficient service delivery.
Sholanke-Koya explained that the arrangement is in accordance with the provisions of Section 49 of the Health Sector Reform Law of 2006, which empowers the Agency to engage franchise companies to monitor health facilities and ensure compliance with set standards, adding that the move will enable the agency to focus more on other responsibilities.
“We will be engaging the services of franchise companies in our monitoring activities which are in accordance with the provisions of Section 49 of the Health Sector Reform Law.
She noted that monitoring activities would be contracted to reputable private organisations to enable us to focus mainly on activities such as accreditation of health facilities and inspection for the registration of new facilities.
On the fight against quackery in the state, the chairman maintained that the government remains committed to winning the war against quackery.
She, therefore, warned that any facility owner or individual engaging in quackery would be sanctioned accordingly.
Emphasising that the Agency is currently scaling up its monitoring and inspection activities to strengthen quality healthcare delivery, Sholanke-Koya revealed that HEFAMAA is set to introduce a Health Facility Inspection Tool called ‘Health FIT’ to foster efficient and effective inspection and monitoring of health facilities in the State.
In her view, the Health FIT is an android-based application developed to make the recording of data seamless and facilitate the real-time rendition of reports to the agency.
She also assured the public of its continued commitment to quality healthcare delivery, adding that the agency contributed immensely to the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic through the development of COVID-19 protocols for health facilities as well as education and sensitisation of facility owners on the need to safeguard the health of all residents.
She mentioned that the agency displayed on its website, information, education and communication materials on COVID-19, sent text messages to registered health facilities, periodically, for necessary awareness and improvement of the knowledge of health workers about the disease, its prevention, diagnosis and proper referral process.
Sholanke-Koya further assured the public that the agency would not rest on its oars until it achieves the mandate of the government to improve the health and well-being of citizens.
