Contribuições da VII Unidade Regional de Saúde Pública no processo de apoio técnico aos municípios da 7ª região de Saúde do Rio Grande do Norte: avanços e desafios

Abstract

In the state of Rio Grande do Norte, based on the Regionalization Master Plan implemented in 2008, eight Health Regions were established. In order to supervise, coordinate and advise the health services belonging to the municipalities that make up these Regions, they were implemented the Regional Public Health Units (URSAP), being considered regionalized administrative structures. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the contributions of the VII Regional Public Health Unit in the process of technical support to the municipalities of the 7th Health Region of Rio Grande do Norte. This is a descriptive study, with a qualitative approach, which applied an electronic questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The data were analyzed according to the thematic content analysis technique, proposed by Laurence Bardin. Based on the congruence of the data analysis, it was possible to identify the path, performance and main difficulties in implementing the VII URSAP, including its work process, its articulation with the municipalities and its main actions carried out with a view to strengthening the territories of municipalities of the 7th Health Region. The participants' speeches and analyzed documents showed greater involvement in the actions of the VII URSAP, which is aimed at strengthening the role of Health Surveillance in the territory and the performance of Primary Health Care in the Previne Brasil indicators. The results obtained in this study point to the need to strengthen the number of personnel, physical structure, governance spaces, as well as the integration of VII URSAP with the technical areas of the State Secretariat for Public Health of Rio Grande do Norte, with focus on effective communication with municipalities. Such improvements aim to strengthen the performance of the Regional Health Department at all levels of health care, as well as consolidating the principles of the Unified Health System.