Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
HEALTH institutions across Zimbabwe are reporting notable improvements in service delivery following the implementation of the Total Quality Management (TQM) system. The programme is designed to streamline hospital workflows, reduce patient waiting times, and enhance overall hospital environments.
Since its launch in 2022, TQM has been transforming hospitals nationwide by improving patient care, shortening queues, and creating cleaner, more organised, and efficient healthcare facilities.
Harare Provincial Medical Director, Dr Innocent Hove, spoke to ZBC News on the sidelines of the third annual progress report meeting held in the capital this Monday with regard to the impact of the 5S-KAIZEN-Total Quality Management system on health delivery.
“This project started in 2022. We were supporting provincial and central hospitals, as well as provincial health executives. Hospitals need to be better organised to improve patient outcomes and the working environment. Previously, quality management was applied inconsistently across institutions, but now we have standardised practices. Patients are more satisfied, the environment is cleaner, and hospital operations are running much smoother,” he said.
The programme, supported by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has improved hospital workflows.
“We are really happy with the progress recorded in hospitals and pleased to note that staff have expressed strong intentions to continue what they learned and experienced through this project and so to continue this improvement process and cycle is the most important thing for all of us and that’s also our final goal of this project,” Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe H.E Maekawa Nobutaka said.
The system has already delivered tangible results at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
“The system has helped so much because you remember most of the complaints, especially when being attended to at the central hospital. Most of the complaints are really about waiting time, so using this principle has really helped us, and we are doing better than the ministry’s target, but we intend to keep on improving. There are a few other areas that still need to be treated, so that’s ongoing work, but we’re happy with where we are currently,” Chitungwiza Chief Medical Officer, Dr Raphael Makota said.
As the close-out session wraps up here at Rainbow Towers, the focus remains on sustaining the gains made, sharing best practices nationwide and continuing the journey to provide more efficient and patient-centred care for all Zimbabweans.
