Primary Health Care Services Activity Lesotho Health and Horticulture Compact - Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Project - Primary Health Care Services Activity; This Activity tackles the challenges to providing quality PHC, including gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response, in Lesotho through an integrated approach that includes support to stakeholders at the national, district, and village levels. Specifically, the Activity supports:

(A) expansion, improvement, and implementation of a standardized, transferable patient record system, interoperable with the national health information system (referred to as DHIS2), including software and IT hardware as required for system operation and to access patient medical records and aggregate patient data for decision-making;

(B) expansion, improvement, and implementation of a standardized patient registration, triage and referral process to ensure patients receive quality PHC services, including GBV services, at the lowest level of the health system that can safely and effectively provide the services;

(C) technical assistance to support the MOH in providing staff training on the improved patient record system and the improved patient referral and triage processes; and to support the MOH's integration of the systems into service delivery practice;

(D) establishment of a MOH-led quality assurance program to ensure clinical practice guidelines and standard operating procedures in the health-care system, including GBV prevention and response, are consistent with global evidence-based best practice, updated regularly, and consistently applied to enable a more standardized level of care and coordination among health care workers;

(E) training of health care workers, including pre-service students and in-service staff, in the use of the standardized clinical guidelines and operating procedures developed as part of the MOH-led quality assurance program;

(F) establishment of regional Centers of Excellence to model quality care, and provide mentorship and clinical competency-based training for health workers at lower levels of the health system;

(G) technical assistance to the MOH to implement the Counter Domestic Violence Law, including to establish policies and processes that strengthen delivery of GBV- related health services, referrals, and reporting;

(H) capacity building for local training institutions to provide pre- and in-service training to MOH professionals in (1) supportive supervision, a facilitative approach that promotes mentorship, joint problem-solving and communication between supervisors and supervisees, (2) administrative competencies in areas such as finance and human resource management, and (3) clinical competencies;

(I) establishment of a standardized system for utilizing village health workers (VHWs) in the delivery of PHC; and capacity building for health center staff who support and supervise VHWs, including the ability of health center staff to report VHW data into the health information system;

(J) implementation research and technical assistance to the MOH to re-design, standardize and improve the use of community-based services (e.g., VHWs, health posts, and health outreaches) to deliver quality PHC; and

(K) technical assistance to the MOH to strengthen its internal and external communication capacity and efforts, including support for the design, development, and distribution of health information materials to healthcare workers and the public.