Friends of HCM seek mechanisms for channelling support to patients

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Friends of HCM seek mechanisms for channelling support to patients

7:23 CAT | 22 Aug 2017

File photo / Maputo Central Hospital

The ‘Friends of Maputo Central Hospital’ association is hoping to create formal mechanisms to channel support to patients in Mozambique’s largest hospital.

‘Amigos do HCM’ contributes to improving the processes of reception and hospitalisation and the provision of health care in general, including outpatient care.

At present, Friends of the HCM assistance to patients is delivered in an arbitrary manner, sometimes bringing the group into conflict with medical staff as well as patients’ families.

The association met hospital management, led by director-general Mouzinho Saíde, on Friday (August 18) in Maputo to address the problem.

Speaking at the meeting, the representative of the João Ferreira dos Santos Group, Salvador Ganhane, said the associations that make up the movement needed to coordinate support in order to avoid “treading on each others’ toes”.

“Support has been allocated in an isolated and uncoordinated way. We need to get together to establish when we can go to the hospital together,” he said.

Sometimes, both the associations and relatives are there at the same time, causing embarrassment.

Friends’ member Jerson Barros said he had about six hectares of crops and was hoping to channel part of his production to the HCM, but could not find out what procedures follow follow.

“I have supported Manhica hospital and I want to support this hospital (central Maputo), but I don’t know how to do it,” said De Barros, who is also a pastor.

Also Read: Health sector in Mozambique may miss targets due to lack of money

Fellow member Joel Samo Gudo said associations’ assistance needed to be put on a more formal footing so that members could offer some justification to their partners. The former director of HCM Blood Bank said some degree of formalisation would actually encourage support for the hospital.

“As a way of encouraging associations, hospital management should issue official documentation for charitable actions,” he said.

Saíde said he would address the challenges indicated by the Friends of the HCM associations so that charitable intervention continued.

Also Read: Mouzinho Saíde is the new Director of Maputo Central Hospital

Reiterating the openness of the HCM to receiving support from any entity, Saíde said that it is not necessary to create a specific commission to deal with the associations, because a “timely and immediately” solution could be devised.

“A commission would create bureaucratic issues, which would be time consuming for the associations as well as for our patients,” he said.

Source: AM Moçambique