The Free State provincial government has launched its e-Health strategy to help improve the quality of services through modern technology. 

The Free State Premier, Mxolisi Dukwana, Health MEC, Mathabo Leeto, and other officials launched the project at the Free State School of Nursing in Bloemfontein on Tuesday (21/11).

The provincial government partnered with Vodacom to improve critical health services in the province. The telecommunications company expressed the hope that the partnership would pave the way for more private-public collaborations.

The Free State government officially launched its e-Health project at the Nursing School in Bloemfontein. Photo: Kekeletso Mosebetsi

Free State Health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said the Covid-19 pandemic taught them that technology is inevitable as part of the continuous improvement of the provision of health-quality services. “We (must be) at the cutting edge of technological development to … improve the efficiency of the provision of services to all our people in the province.”

The technological equipment showcased during the launch included electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, automation of paper-based manual processes, and mobile health apps.

Mondli said some of these technologies, such as assisted reality medico-legal surveillance systems, are used in countries such as Germany. The Free State is possibly the first South African province to use this system. It will help specialists provide advice to junior doctors and other healthcare providers even remotely.

“We demonstrated in the app where a patient is attended to by a paramedic which is part of the pre-hospital services. At the same time, they can speak to a specialist at Universitas Academic Hospital. So there is continuous provision of healthcare services to that patient, instead of just loading (them) into the transport [provided] by EMS to take to a health facility."

OFM News previously reported on the death of a patient at one of Free State health facilities after nurses allegedly refused to assist after the family of the deceased was advised to take him to the facility as a result of a scarcity of ambulances.

While Petrusburg's parents lost their child after waiting hours for an ambulance. Leeto acknowledged the provincial healthcare system is facing many challenges which also include infrastructure, job opportunities, patient transport, keeping patients' records, long queues at health facilities, and slow response to patient calls, among others.

She said this new technology is part of government intervention in ensuring some of these challenges are dealt with. The e-health system is also expected to speed up the process of ambulance response to patients through a tracker. Leeto called on all health employees to stop being complacent and use health resources to save lives.

“I always say to officials, when they work for our people they must always think about their grandparents who do not have medical aids, about how frustrating it is when an ambulance is called and it takes an hour, two or three hours before it arrives.

“Of course, we do not have specialists in all our facilities but the technology that is being demonstrated now is going to help us save lives quicker because facilities are also inflated,” she added.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi