Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Correspondent
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Health Services Department has introduced a raft of measures to protect health personnel and patients against Covid-19 at local clinics.
The municipality runs 19 clinics dotted around the city as well as the Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital.
Council clinics had to suspend some services at the start of the lockdown period in March and April, such as HIV testing and counselling.
However, all services are now available, albeit under a different scheduling plan to decongest the health facilities.
During the first weeks of the lockdown, council clinics were overwhelmed following the closure of outpatients’ departments at Mpilo Central and the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
The clinics are running with a 60 percent staff complement due to a recruitment freeze that was recently partially lifted.
To decongest, health authourities in the city have collapsed schedules for patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and those living with HIV and came up with new schedules that ensured less human traffic at the facilities.
Health staff are also triaging patients, which refers to screening patients according to conditions and services required as a means of determining the degree of need and urgency of treatment required so that those most ill are prioritised.
All clients visiting the clinic are also required to wear masks and those that do not comply are denied entry.
BCC senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said clinic staffers were trained on working during the pandemic and some of them were part of the Rapid Response Team.
“The citywide health facilities have been trained to triage patients, elicit epidemiological and clinical history as well as expedite movements into and out of the clinic,” said Mrs Mpofu.
“Bulawayo City Council continues orienting staff in the surveillance activities as well as the specimen collection, handling and transportation techniques. It is actually staff at the clinics that are pulled in order to build Rapid Response, Surveillance, Infection control and Case Management teams.”
She said in opportunistic infection (OI) clinics, health staff and patients are protected during daily collection of blood samples for viral load, baseline monitoring tests such as the CD4 count.
Enhanced adherence counselling for compliance is still ongoing albeit with social distancing being observed and in a room with good ventilation.
“Congestion has been reduced at the OI Clinic by dispensing antiretroviral treatment ART for as much as three months where feasible,” she said.
Mrs Mpofu said TB patients are getting two weeks supply of medication for stable and reliable patients on the intensive phase, while patients on the continuation phase are getting a month’s supply.
At the outpatient departments, chronic patients such as those with hypertension and diabetes are getting two months or longer prescriptions to reduce trips to the health centres.
“The municipal health department has also introduced a telephone-based review where feasible, as first choice than physical follow up reviews, as part of measures to reduce physical interface and contact and to reduce numbers at clinics. Patients and clients are staggered evenly through the week and reminded of social distancing,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She said as a response to national health guidelines, the city has revised guidance such that at the gates of all clinics and at Thorngrove hospital hand washing stations are functional and all clients and staff wash hands on exit and entry.
If there is no water, sanitisers are used and all people entering health facilities have their temperature checked.
Mrs Mpofu added that other Covid-19 public etiquette such as maintenance of social distancing is being observed.
She said council health staff are making reference to Ministry of Health and Child Care guidlines on infection prevention and control (IPC) and are using personal protective equipment.
Used disposable medical masks used by health workers such as the N95 and surgical masks are being discarded properly as medical waste. — @andile_tshuma
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