Ritshidze's community-led monitoring system as a source of information on health system responsiveness in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorGovendor, Karessa
dc.contributor.authorSchneider, Helen
dc.contributor.authorBarron, Peter
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-14T07:57:57Z
dc.date.available2026-01-14T07:57:57Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractRitshidze is a large-scale community-led monitoring (CLM) system in South Africa, which has been conducting quarterly surveys of patient experiences at >400 primary healthcare facilities and community sites since 2019. This in-practice piece examines the data collected and publicly reported by Ritshidze, to highlight its role as an independent, complementary source of information on primary healthcare performance. It argues that CLM has significant potential to enhance health system responsiveness. We provide an overview of the data collection system, involving close to 500 data points organised into seven domains, and then focus on two sets of indicators that illustrate the utility of the monitoring and reporting system. The indicators selected are a set that assesses patient time spent at a facility (as a proxy for waiting times), illustrating both the depth and the breadth of the Ritshidze database; and the length of HIV prescriptions ('length of medicine refill'), as an indicator of the improvements in responsiveness of the health system to the needs of patients. Integrating CLM data into formal health system monitoring and evaluation frameworks could enhance the responsiveness of the health system to patients and communities, one of the key overall objectives of the district health system.
dc.identifier.citationBarron, P., Honermann, B., Vallabhjee, K., Govender, K. and Schneider, H., 2025. Ritshidze’s community-led monitoring system as a source of information on health system responsiveness in South Africa. South African Medical Journal, 115(3), pp.16-22.
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2025.v115i3.2688
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/21695
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSouth African Medical Association
dc.subjectcommunity-led monitoring
dc.subjectdistrict health systems information
dc.subjectinformation dashboards
dc.subjectresponsiveness of the health system
dc.subjectperformance
dc.titleRitshidze's community-led monitoring system as a source of information on health system responsiveness in South Africa
dc.typeArticle

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