By; MATTHEW UKACHUNWA, Lagos
A new healthcare strategic plan for year 2022 which emphasizes improved data management, strict implementation of regulations, income generation and budget performance has been developed by Lagos State government.
Budget drawdown and budget impact to better position the State health sector for better service delivery in year 2022 were included in the strategic health plan.
“The development of the strategic plans is an offshoot of a three day end of year managerial retreat organized for top management staff of the Ministry held between Tuesday 14th and Thursday 16th December, 2021 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island,” Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Public Affairs Director of the ministry wrote in a news statement dated 19th December 2021.
According to Ogunbanwo, the retreat titled: “The role of leadership and management in the transformation agenda of the health sector towards a smart city”, was designed to achieve the goal of a healthier smart city.
Speaking on the objectives of the retreat, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi explained that the three-day managerial retreat is geared towards enhancing creative problem solving and decision making skills as well as to expatiate on the roles of leadership in achieving an efficient health care system in Lagos State.
Abayomi disclosed that the Ministry of Health is poised to improve on data processing and management, set standard and prototype in the delivery of health services, follow and keep up with advancement in the medical field around the world, create enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and act of public protector, especially preventing exploitation of citizens by the private sector in health service delivery.
He said: “The role of government is policy, strategy and direction, and embedded in that is the collection and cleaning of data to define policy, strategy and regulatory framework.
“Anytime we put measures in place for regulations, there is always resistance, but we won’t be deterred from setting standard and prototype for improved health service delivery in line with the dictates of the present administration’s THEMES agenda.
“We have identified what our gaps are, and as a performing Ministry, we will keep up with the standard, acknowledging that there are rooms for improvement.”
The Commissioner added that the Ministry has identified opportunities to generate income and raise its internally generated revenue to fund some of its regulatory functions and high impact interventions. He stressed the need to achieve a hundred percent budget performance with its attendant positive impact on health service delivery to residents, noting that strategic plans are in place to achieve this goal.
“We will also pay attention to details as one of our core values and ethos in the coming year. This is symbolic for us as we are evolving, we believe that paying attention to the tiniest of details can make a whole lot of difference in our efforts at regulation to achieve quality service delivery in the health sector”, he said
Abayomi noted that the retreat has afforded management staff in the Ministry the opportunity to equip themselves with managerial and creative innovation skills as well as keep them in tune with global best practices in health service delivery.
He added that the theme of the retreat, “the role of leadership and management in the transformation agenda of the health sector towards a smart city” is well thought out to revolutionize out-of-the box and innovative ideas that would propel the State health sector towards resilient health system and a smart city.
While tasking health workers on the provision of sustainable healthcare delivery, the Commissioner applauded them for their hard work, dedication and the high level of professionalism displayed in the fight against the global Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“We appreciate all of you for your hard work, dedication and professionalism in the discharge of your services during the course of the year. Lagos has set the pace, we did not do “copycat” management, we did it our own way and COVID did not stop us from implementing other health interventions that may affect the State’s health indices”, he said in statement titled: “Lagos Health Ministry Develops Strategic Plans to Foster Better Health Service Delivery in 2022.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye explained that the objective of the retreat is to identify key performance indicators that can assist in tracking performance of service delivery.
He added that the goal is to provide quality services to residents while responding swiftly to situations and challenges.
He declared: “We all understand that the health sector is under the greatest stress it has ever been for a long time and we are trying to ensure that we are responsive to the situation and we can deal with things and provide quality health services for the residents of Lagos.
“One of the things we are going to do as a fall out of this training is to develop a strategic plan that has what our strategies and objectives are and identify certain key performance indicators that we can use to track our own performance for delivery of the services beyond issues like using complaint from the public as a measure of our service delivery.”
He added that the state will not relent in making policies geared towards a responsive and smart health care delivery through skilled man power developments and the continuous expansion of the health infrastructures in the state.
The immediate past Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris who was one of the facilitators at the retreat urged the leadership in the health sector to be focused and have an established direction through which the health sector can leverage to achieve its goals.
In his presentation titled: “Role of Leadership in the Transformational Agenda of the Health Sector”, Idris urged the health workers to be innovative, confident and courageous in the discharge of their duties adding that the health sector at this point in time requires a variety of leadership approach with new set of Skills.
