The Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA) has concluded a targeted National Mentorship Supportive Supervision Programme aimed at enhancing service quality in selected Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the state.
The initiative, which held from July 14 through 19, was implemented under the guidance of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and funded by the World Bank-assisted Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) Project.
Teams of trained mentors were deployed simultaneously across all 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to supervise and support healthcare workers in selected PHCs, with a focus on strengthening clinical capacity, improving service standards, and ensuring adherence to national healthcare protocols.
Leading one of the field supervision teams, the Director General of CRSPHCDA, Dr. Vivien Mesembe Otu, who is also a certified National Mentor, visited four PHCs in Calabar South and Akpabuyo LGAs: PHC Eyamba, PHC Bogobiri, PHC Awka Ikot Effanga, and Esuk Ekpo Eyo Health Post.
“This activity is an NPHCDA initiative funded by the World Bank-assisted IMPACT project,” Dr. Otu stated. “We went round mentoring and supervising the quality of healthcare provided in our facilities, ensuring that national standards are upheld. As a national mentor, I also taught health workers how to manage common clinical cases and conduct proper clinical examinations.”
She clarified that the mentorship exercise was conducted in selected PHCs identified for targeted supervision and intensive support in the State.
“We are not doing all facilities—just selected PHCs,” she explained. “This allows for focused, hands-on mentorship that creates more meaningful impact where it matters most.”
The supportive supervision covered areas such as maternal and child health, outpatient consultations, infection prevention, proper documentation, and drug inventory management. Health workers received real-time clinical coaching and guidance to address service delivery gaps and improve patient outcomes.
One of the notable moments during the visit was the presentation of a postnatal kit to a mother who brought her baby for immunization, symbolizing the agency’s commitment to promoting maternal and child health and encouraging the use of PHC services.
Dr. Otu also highlighted that multiple teams conducted similar exercises across the 18 LGAs simultaneously, ensuring that the mentorship programme reached facilities in both urban and rural communities.
The program reflects national priorities to standardize healthcare delivery at the PHC level and is aligned with global best practices for strengthening health systems through mentorship and capacity building.
Dr. Otu reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to sustaining quality improvements and thanked Governor Bassey Edet Otu for his administration’s continued support in revitalizing primary healthcare in the state.
“This mentorship programme has ended, but the lessons, insights, and improvements will continue to shape our approach to healthcare delivery,” she said. “We will use the feedback from this exercise to inform future training, policy, and reforms as we work toward achieving Universal Health Coverage in Cross River State.”
