HCPZ act to ensure quality in health training institutions

HCPZ CEO advises health institutions to device own standards to promote quality health services delivery in health training institutions

By Francis Maingaila
(22-11-19) – The Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) has noted with regret a pocket of health training institutions that does not follow the laid down procedures and standards qualifications, including the ordinary level or better before admitting students for training.
HPCZ Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Bwembya Bwalya told head of health training institutions and the media during a
stakeholders breakfast meeting held at Cresta Golfview in Lusaka on Friday that the health training institutions should not hesitate to fail students that does not meet the requires standards laid by HPCZ.
He said the object of setting high standards is not to disadvantage anyone but to promote health sector in the country.
He advised individual health training institutions to be free to devise own standards that will promote quality health services to the people.
He said students that fail to meet those standards and those with bad attitude should not be tolerated at all times.
He wondered why students that have bad attitude are allowed to graduate in health training health institutions.
He said allowing students that have bad attitude and those that do not qualify was tantamount to inviting problems to the patients.
In fact, Dr. Bwalya suggested student with bad attitude should be put in therapy and recommended by medical experts that, they are now ready read and qualify to work in health institution where they will be dealing with life.
Dr. Bwaly is of the view that, quality assurance in the training of health personnel was a sure way of protecting patients from unscrupulous practitioners.
Dr Bwalya also advised to take note of the students movements from one health training institution to another.
He suggested that in the past, student who did not qualify or could have been sent away from one training institution could easily migrate to another institution where they would carry along with their attitudes.
He also warned that students caught with malpractice should not be allowed to step an foot in another health training institution.
Despite these challenges faced by the health training institutions, Dr. Bwalya observed there some health institutions that have exhibited quality services to the health training sectors in Zambia.
He said the health training institutions which he did not name have continued to meet the required standards to the satisfaction of the health council.
He said in the news future, the health institution that meet the standards will be published in the health journals so that they can set as examples to the rest of the health training institutions in the country.
The primary purpose of publishing the health institutions that meet the standards encourage competition in the health training institutions.
The more health training institutions are competing to enter the record as centre of excellence, the more qualitableedocal personnel the institutions will be producing.