Health authorities to give plans

HEALTH and HIV/AIDS Minister Elias Kapavore says all provincial health authorities (PHA) are required to provide health services plans.
Kapavore told The National that after PHAs were endorsed and declared they needed to submit their health service plans to the Department of Health.
“Health service plans reflect the infrastructure need for those provinces,” Kapavore said.
“When we get the health service delivery plan for those provinces, we will know what their infrastructure, work force and medical equipment delivery requirements are and everything else will flow from there.
“After the PHAs are endorsed and declared, we need to see those health service plans,” he said.
Kapavore said the PHAs need was to have a health service delivery plan for each province so resources could be accounted for.
He said the health services plan needed to be done in consultation with the Health Department following the format in reporting all those indicators.
“We will have a board management tool so we can see if the PHA boards are performing and achieving the results.
“We need to continue to monitor the performance of boards and those that are not performing, we can act on,” he said.
Kapavore, who returned from Lae on Friday after witnessing the establishment of the Morobe PHA, said both the rural health services and the hospital were under one chief executive officer and board management.
He admitted that this process had been delayed and there were six provincial PHAs yet to be established including Gulf, Central, Chimbu, Madang, Western and NCD.
“It is one of the important government interventions making sure that we address this fragmented system of having dual systems.
“I will be talking to the governors, they must understand this, their support must go to the PHAs.
“I’m making this as a compulsory arrangement because we will see the clear allocation of resources, know the needs and weaknesses of PHAs.”