The lack of security at the Maputo Provincial Hospital (HPM) – which is characterized by the absence of a gate and security staff – has been worrying the users of health services and local communities, raising fear for new-born babies’ theft.
The insecurity, at that location, also troubles the superior entities of the hospital, who have registered, last year, a case of a new-born baby stolen from his own mother.
“The case was investigated by the police”, the president of the Quality and Humanization Committee, Carlos Buque, said, speaking at the meeting focused on Evaluation of Services Provided at hospital.
In order to stablish a security system in the hospital, according to HPM director, Paula Rodrigues, work is underway to seek funding that can respond to the current problems.
“We are aware of the lack of security at our hospital, which allows outsiders to come and go. In the past meeting, with the Quality and Humanization Committee, we talked about the lack of funding to solve this problem”, Rodrigues explained, advancing that “as long as there is no funding to install a gate and hire a guard, we will put up barriers to prevent the entry of malicious people.”
The authorities of the same hospital, through the Quality and Humanization Committee, also expressed their dissatisfaction with the continuous complaints regarding illicit charges in the maternity services.
Observing this plight, the Citizen Observatory for Health (OCS), which attended the alluded meeting, considers inadmissible that a hospital, of provincial category as if it were not enough, lacks a security system or a mechanism for registering circulation of people and goods in this health facility.
Reduction of Waiting Time for Health Assistance
Notwithstanding the problems, the authorities of the same hospital say that “work has been done to guarantee improved of care for citizens. There are improvements in the provision of services in the hospital.”
The improvements are registered in the reduction of the waiting time in attendance of users, and the maternity department, in turn, has been clean and properly arranged to receive the parturient.
The introduction of the Manchester protocol, an electronic platform to regulates the waiting lines, as well as the interaction that this hospital has been having with the community, through the Quality and Humanization Committee, are some of the promoters of these changes, which constitute a gain for the patients.
Maputo Provincial Hospital has been a target of criticism and complaints directly related to the slowness of care, occurrence of obstetric violence, corruption in maternity services, among others.
In the field, the OCS team found that HPM has registered few people in the waiting lines, as well as observed that the beds for parturient were clean and organized.
“The patients’ queue for treatment have dropped and complaints, regarding illicit charges at the maternity ward, have reduced”, Buque said, expressing concern over the lack of security at the hospital.
“Since we started our inspection work, in this hospital, the services in the maternity ward have improved a lot. In the past, we received many complaints of poor service and illicit charges, which no longer happens so often, which leads us to say that we are moving towards a more humanized service provision”, he noted.
A complaints book has been introduced, Buque added, where patients can post their concerns about quality of care.
“The Committee proposes the implementation of humanized childbirth, through assistance by those people who the parturient to the hospital”, Buque added.
The hospital director recognizes the Committee’s intervention in achieving positive results.
“For us, it is a great gain because we were able to be united to achieve these goals, always with support from the community. They were telling us where we were failing and what we needed to improve. With that, we overcame our differences and barriers”, Rodrigues said.
During the meeting, the OCS informed the hospital authorities about its training package that aims to train quality and humanization committees. It is also in the interest of the OCS to train the Maputo Provincial Hospital, so that it becomes an example in health management.
In fact, as part of its activities, the OCS has been carrying out research, campaigns, and training on the need to improve health service delivery in Mozambique.