Coordination and Integration
Adapted for local relevance
In modern healthcare systems, it is possible to house all the needed resources for complex medical and surgical needs in one system and under one roof. We understand this is a challenge in Africa, but we know it is best practice to have surgical and accompanying blood bank, radiological, pharmaceutical and related services all together to ensure patient-centred care
Our approach as ACHF is to see how we can ensure that each system can adapt for local relevance, keeping in mind that the child’s health and wellbeing remain our top priority.
Support Services and Functional Internal Linkages.
The Foundation supports the establishment of coordinated support for comprehensive children’s health services under one roof. This means medical, dental, surgical, blood bank, radio- diagnostic, and other supportive laboratory and therapeutic services exist in one system to reduce the burden of care on the patient and ensure we provide patient centred services. Referrals between departments and divisions are dependent on specialists and sub specialists working together to ensure patients are supported all the way.
We ensure functional Paediatric pharmacies are established where medications can be compounded, and the teams can develop local hospital and health system formularies in conjunction with the microbiology team.
Establishing new non-Medical Specialities
Following from aspiring to fully integrated internal services, ACHF supports the establishment as needed of additional medical specialities as well as surgical and support services as needed to ensure holistic patient care can be achieved in each tertiary institution setting.
We strive to ensure physical, mental and spiritual healthcare including surgical services can be provided alongside blood bank, radio-diagnostic and therapeutic, laboratory, physical therapy and occupational and speech therapy. Some of these specialists only exist in many countries because individuals go and train in them and return home to practice, By and large this means they are also handicapped in delivery state of the art care. With he input of ACHF, we intend to support this training within the continent to assure the growth of needed specialties.
Establishing linkages with primary healthcare.
Ideally, flow to the referral Children’s Hospital should be bi-directional, with children referred for specialist consultation from primary or secondary health care services, and then back to once the acute complex medical issues are controlled. They can then continue to be cared for in their homes and communities by primary care practitioners and caregivers.
We support continued skills development at the primary care level, and encourage regular review of primary care resource needs to help the patients maintain health and wellbeing, assuring decongestion of tertiary centers. The Children’s Hospitals continue to serve as a Hub with primary and secondary health facilities serving as the “spokes”
