The National Senate Health Committee has advised Nyamira County Governor Amos Nyaribo to make prudent use of their Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) to improve health care service provision in the county. The Senate Health Committee Chairman, Jackson Mandago, speaking during an impromptu tour to assess the level of service delivery and infrastructure improvement status of various health facilities in Nyamira County, observed that the county’s public health facilities are underutilised, allegedly due to its failure to meet clients’ health care needs. ‘The low turnout of people seeking even the most basic health care services in the hospitals we visited is a clear indication that services at the public health care facilities in Nyamira are not satisfactory, and residents have opted to look for alternative private facilities where their health care needs are met,’ said Mandago. ‘Make prudent use of the FIF to ensure that public health facilities, including those in the remote areas of the county, are well stocked with drugs. Deploy professional medical personnel in those facilities to offer specialised services where the most vulnerable and poor populations can readily access health care services at affordable rates,’ advised the chair. Murang’a Senator Joseph Ngugi, who is a member of the committee, further suggested that the county work closely with the human resource council to conduct regular sensitization forums to train their staff on customer relations etiquette when attending to clients seeking services at the health facilities. Customer relations is a key soft skill for employees because it determines the level of client satisfaction with any service offered to them. Nyaribo was very positive about the senate’s observation, saying it was an eye-opener that has shown him a true picture of areas he needs to improve on in the health care services in the county, and he promised to work round-the-clock to ensure that issues within his mandate are worked on as recommended by the senate committee. ‘Objective criticism for an open-minded leader is important in shaping their leadership ambition and role, and for me, your assessment and report on my county’s status about the health facilities in my county and services therein are very welcome. The feedback is very critical because it will be one of the guiding tools for various changes I must make to improve service delivery at our healthcare facilities. Despite the struggles of budgeting equitably with constrained resources, the department of health services takes the lion’s share of the available resources during budgeting. There is therefore no reason why it should not be ranked best when it comes to performance and service delivery. I shall coordinate with my county executive committee members to ensure efficient services at all health care facilities in the county, for it was one of my political campaign manifestos I’m working to deliver to the people of Nyamira as promised,’ he assured.
Source: Kenya News Agency