Northern Pulse

By Stella Kabruk

The Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA), with support from its development partners and the Kaduna State Ministry of Planning and Budget, has commenced a Client Satisfaction Interface Survey.

The survey is for enrollees of the Kaduna State Contributory Health Scheme (KADCHS) in 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state to gather feedback from beneficiaries on the quality of healthcare services received under the scheme.

The Director-General of KADCHMA, Abubakar Hassan, disclosed this while monitoring the exercise at selected healthcare facilities in some of the participating LGAs.

According to him, the survey is designed to assess the experiences of enrollees at their chosen healthcare facilities, determine their level of understanding of the scheme, and identify areas for improvement in service delivery.

He noted that the feedback obtained from beneficiaries will help KADCHMA strengthen its operations and ensure the provision of more accessible, efficient, and quality healthcare services to residents enrolled under the scheme across Kaduna State.

Hassan reaffirmed KADCHMA’s commitment to prioritising the welfare and satisfaction of enrollees through continuous monitoring and evaluation of healthcare services provided by accredited facilities.

“This time around, one area we chose is the enrollee himself, and we’re doing this because we want to understand exactly how the enrollees feel because the system is about demand and supply.

“We want to know what the supply experience is for our enrollees so that we can see areas where we’re doing well and areas that we really need to improve, so that our enrollees can have experiences that are of great quality and that we can retain them.

“It is one thing to have an enrollee; it is another to retain that enrollee,” he said.

A consultant with the Society for Advocacy and Research in Health, Deji Bodunde, said that as development partners, they are conducting the survey for enrollees who have been enrolled with the state contributory healthcare management authority.

Bodunde said the assessment so far is commendable, as they are hearing positive feedback from beneficiaries at the selected facilities in the state.

“I must commend the health authority for the work they are doing because, so far, from what we are seeing and hearing, they’re doing a good job.

“It’s very good to do assessments because we want to hear from the clients, as they are like customers to the authority. If their experiences are not okay, their perception of the health authority will be negative.

“If we get such feedback, the health authority will have to focus its attention on those areas and make sure they improve.”

He added that assessment is good for obtaining firsthand information from enrollees and addressing the challenges they face.

He said they are working in collaboration with the State Bureau of Statistics to carry out the survey and obtain accurate data that can drive well-informed decisions and help scale up the programme.

Also speaking, Amina Lami-Aliyu, the Project Head and Technical Coordinator of the Bureau of Statistics, said they conducted training for enumerators to go across the 12 selected LGAs.

She said the survey will assess the services provided by facilities, availability of drugs, attitude of staff, as well as the environment of the facilities.

Lami-Aliyu said the exercise involved the Ward Development Committee (WDC) and other stakeholders in the communities visited. (NAN)