LHW Systems Review - Oxford Policy Management

Selection and recruitment system2. Insufficient budget for 100,000 fully-funded LHWS The budget forecast (FYs2003/04–2007/08) was based on funding for 100,000 LHWs and 4,000 LHSs.However, by the end of this period the Programme had only received 87 percent ofallocated funds. Each year the budget allocation and releases were less than theProgramme requested;3. Catchment areas There appears to be a problem with providing a catchment areawith a population of 1,000 people for LHWs to register. The average number ofpeople registered has fallen from 980 in 2000 to 919 in 2008. This could be due tosaturation of coverage in areas where the Programme is already established: 9percent have 700, or fewer, people registered;4. Ratio of LHS to LHWs The target ratio of LHSs to LHWs was 1:25. The ratio in 2008was 1:23, down from 1:27 in 2000. There was delayed recruitment of LHSs. Delayedrecruitment results in lower levels of supervision at the time that newly recruitedLHWs started working;5. Community acceptance The selection system is recruiting LHWs who areacceptable to their communities. The results from the Community Survey were verypositive, with over 90 percent of respondents saying that there had beenimprovements in health due to the LHWs’ work; that LHWs had generally improvedpeople’s lives in the community, and that women were usually respected afterbecoming LHWs.15