Lead Investigator of the Nigerian Site on REaCH Project, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun has appealed to Oyo State Government to make budget provision for the adoption and use of remote consulting to increase access to healthcare particularly for chronic disease population in the state.
Professor Omigbodun stated this at a two-day dissemination workshop organised for healthcare providers and policy actors on the key findings of the project towards encouraging the adoption and use to improve access to health care in the state.
Omigbodun, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine University of Ibadan and Lead Investigator for the Nigeria Site on the Project “COVID-19: Determining trustworthiness and safety of Remote consulting in primary Health care for chronic disease population in Africa” funded by UK Research and Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund (UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund).
The Project’s Principal investigator is Professor Jackie Sturt at King’s college UK while Professor Eme Owoaje and Dr. Olufunke Fayehun are co-investigators for the Nigerian Site.
The Project involved the training of healthcare providers in 35 Primary Healthcare facilities in Ibadan on remote consulting.
According to him, the study showed that remote consulting increased with the training and that patients enjoyed quality services they enjoyed when they visit
In her Presentation, Prof. Eme Owoaje stated that it will be desirable for the Oyo state primary healthcare board to adopt and use remote consultation into the health care system to improve health care delivery for the population in the state
In an interview, Professor Omigbodun stated that “One key thing is that those who make policy should have access to the knowledge that has been generated from this project. We are hoping when they see that it is something that can work, and be of benefit of the population then it will enter into the discussion in government circles and they can decide that this is what we can devote a part of the health budget towards so I mean we have developed the new training tool which is online and can be accessed to health workers anywhere and the government can reach out to the mobile companies to support government in this regard and government need to budget provisions so that this kind of service can also be available. It is part of a package and it is not replacing physical consultations but complementing it and making it more efficient.
“What we are trying to do is to see how we can try to improve access to care for the population and particularly so because of the period we have been in for the past two years. COVID-19 came exactly 2 years ago in March 2020 and everywhere was locked down. It became very difficult for patients to go to health facilities and the healthcare providers are afraid of what will happen if their place gets crowded and people brought in infections. So it created a barrier between the population and the healthcare providers.
“So the whole purpose of this project is to see whether we can still provide healthcare without the patients necessarily having to come physically to the health facilities. They can receive, consult with their health providers from where ever they live from their own homes and they can get better. They can consult with their health care providers and have their complaints taken care of. They can get the necessary investigations, treatment prescribed and their health conditions with improve.
“What we were concerned about was, were the healthcare workers prepared to render this service? So we instituted this a program of training to train them on how to provide it through remote consultations. The other thing we were bothered about is would the service remain of same quality at least from the perception of the patient and one other thing we were concerned about is if the patients will trust the treatments received if they are not physically meeting with the health workers?
“Our findings showed that training the health workers led to increase in the use of remote consulting and the health workers said it reduced the number of patients coming physically to the health facilities yet the patients were still getting the services they needed. Secondly it looked as if the quality as if the patients were receiving did not change and also the patients still had trust in the treatment rendered through remote consulting. All our expectations were met. What we then need to do now is to upscale this kind of training to cover all the health facilities in Oyo state to start with and other part of the nation. Also we need to educate the public so that they will know that this kind of service is available. There are certain things we can take care of without coming to the health facility. The facilities will be less crowded and the healthcare providers will be able to concentrate on the fewer.”
