NO BARCODE, NO TREATMENT

MBABANE – Children aged five years and under will not be attended to if their birth cards do not have a bar code attached to them.
The bar codes are a new phenomenon that has been introduced by the Mbabane Public Health Unit.

This has seen several women being turned away without their children attended to because the children’s card did not have the bar code.
“My preschooler had missed immunisation so when I took her to the Mbabane Government hospital for ring worms they referred me to the Public Health Unit. When I got there I was turned back because of the bar code,” said the mother of a five-year-old.

She said since she had never heard about the bar code before, the nurses showed her a health card belonging to another child which bore the bar code.
She said they explained that they no longer accepted children who did not have bar codes and advised that they were issued at the clinic.

“They said I should come with my national ID card, the child’s birth certificate and national IDs of two witnesses in order to have the bar code printed and attached to my daughter’s card.”
The woman said due to the absence of the bar code, she failed to have her child treated on that day.

She also mentioned that she was not the only one who was sent packing on the day.
The woman said when she got home she relayed the news to her mother (child’s grandmother) who then purchased some medication from the pharmacy.

motivator

In an interview with the child’s grandmother, Dudu Fakudze, she said she went to the local health motivator to enquire about the bar code and she was told that it was true.
“A health motivator from the neighbourhood said they have been educated about the bar code and said she noted an oversight in terms of relating the message to mothers,” she said.

Fakudze said she asked around because she had personally never heard of such and she also wanted a clear version of the whole issue.
Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said even if there was a requirement of bar codes, people are not supposed to be turned away without receiving treatment.
“I am not quite familiar with the bar codes you are talking about but I will try to find out what they are and what their purpose is.”

He said he had already assigned some officers at the hospital to enquire about the bar codes.
Principal Secretary Dr Simon Zwane said the codes were meant for individuals who do not have PINs.

Through bar code technology, practitioners can see all the previous notes and medical information tied to the unique bar code linked to each patient. The medical staff can easily access records and see where a patient is in terms of his or her medication cycle and any other care the patient may require. When doctors and nurses can work more efficiently and care for patients more thoroughly during their shift, they are saving the hospital time and resources.

eliminate

Additionally, as more and more healthcare practices convert to electronic medical records, bar code solutions eliminate manual data collection and allow all patient information to be easily and instantly collected and recorded electronically, further reducing potential human error.

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