Project Mission
In collaboration with the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health (Directorate HIV/AIDS), the Cape Town City Health Department and Metro District Health Services, the projects in Mitchell's Plain aim to improve the prevention of HIV infection (with a special focus on preventing mother-to-child transmission [PMTCT] of the disease), improve access to highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), and provide the partnering clinics with the tools to continously improve their health care systems.
Program Spotlight
The Mitchell’s Plain subdistrict has an urban population of about 430,000. It is estimated that the total number of patients within the subdistrict in need of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment is about 200 per month. The clinics in Mitchell’s Plain also provide highly active anti-retroviral treatment to patients from neighboring informal settlements.
Progress
In September 2008, about halfway through the improvement project, the Mitchell’s Plain subdistrict exceeded their goal of initiating 160 patients in need of ARV treatment per month by 20 patients.
Data shows that these successes increase dramatically after program Learning Sessions (LS), where clinic staff and leadership come together to share their successes and failures, as well as learn improvement techniques and methodologies.
The Road Ahead
The program will continue to focus on working through a large backlog of patients in order to identify at-risk patients and provide them with treatment as soon as possible. This will also reduce the time that patients must wait in order to see a doctor.
Problem Solving, The QI Way
Several clinics across the region were found to have gaps in their care of HIV/TB patients, in part enforced by the enormous burden of disease within the districts. Several clinics recognized their gaps in care and are starting wellness clinics in order to strengthen HIV care for their patients and achieve the goal of saving lives through prevention and treatment of HIV/TB.
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