Learnings from the first phase are being used in a further four districts. Extensive consultations took place in the different districts with public health officials at provincial, district and municipal level as well as local clinics.
Following community dialogues, members of the community were recruited to volunteer as Community Based Monitors and training was provided to volunteers equipping them with basic knowledge on health systems, monitoring procedures as well as the indicators of quality developed with input from CBM.
Essentially CBM teams are providing a vital service to the health service and the public by monitoring 6 quality control dimensions:
CBM teams submit daily reports on their activities, utilising a picture report card poster which monitors their services.
“…Things are happening, people are attended to and time is important because people do not have time to be at the clinic all day. These people are monitoring everything, why the queues are not moving, they are checking everything and everything is now faster. These people are working, they are working very hard.”
Community member, Kganya Clinic, Free State
Feedback to public takes place regularly through public meetings. These meetings also help the clinic staff communicate any challenges they face and share development plans. Linked to the clinic committees, CBM team become the “eyes and ears” of committees.
