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Consultant - Ministry of Health, Health Workforce and Hospital Assessments

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) accredited, non-government organisation working on health and development programs with partners across Asia and the Pacific. RACS’ Global Health Program focuses on strengthening health systems and building capacity of health work forces to improve the quality and accessibility of surgical treatment and post-operative care.

Background to the Consultancy

RACS has been working with DFAT since 1995 to address gaps in specialised clinical service (SCS) provision in the Pacific region. The current phase of this work is conducted through the Pacific Islands Program (PIP) which will be implemented up to 2021, with a possible extension to 2022. One of the key objectives of this program has been to strengthen and consolidate specialised clinical service delivery in the Pacific region.

Anticipated end of program outcomes include:

  1. Prioritised clinical service professionals have improved competencies
  2. Priority clinical and training needs within Pacific Island Countries met through the deployment of Visiting Medical Teams (VMTs)
  3. Capacity of Pacific Ministries of Health to identify, prioritise and plan for specialised clinical service and training strengthened
  4. Pacific specialised clinical education institutions and Pacific professional clinical organisations have improved educational resources.

The program was designed to achieve the above outcomes through the deployment of VMTs to assist with the provision of surgery, where there are current gaps in specialities, whilst also providing on-going professional development of health workforces through training and mentoring.

The PIP forms part of the broader DFAT Pacific Regional Clinical Services and Health Workforce Improvement Program which aims to contribute to the following high-level goal; ‘health care in Pacific island countries is affordable, appropriate to local needs, of good quality and accessible’. The PIP is one of three programs implemented under this regional program. The other components are managed by Fiji National University (FNU) and Pacific Community (SPC).

Scope of the Consultancy

Limited baseline data was collected during the design of the PIP. Therefore, to support current program implementation, including ongoing monitoring in addition to assessment of outcomes and impact during end of program evaluation, RACS is seeking to engage a consultant with expertise in health systems strengthening, to undertake desk-based capacity assessments at three operational levels, as follows:

  1. Ministry of Health (MoH) - Assessment of current MoH capacity in 11 Pacific Island Countries to effectively prioritise and plan for the delivery of specialised clinical services and professional development of the health workforce. These assessments will review relevant data such as Strategic and Business Plans and other key MoH planning documents to identify trends over the last five years and to document current capacity. Ministries of Health to be assessed include: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
  2. Health Workforce - Assessment of the capacity of the current health workforce in 11 PICs (listed above). These assessments will consider numbers, skills and professional development opportunities available to the health workforce and document trends in the health workforce of each PIC over the last 5 years.
  3. Hospital - Assessment of the clinical capacity of the 15 hospitals in which RACS VMTs undertake surgery alongside Pacific clinicians. These assessments will be informed by existing global standards (WHO). Hospital assessments will also include a compliance check of current hospital policies to determine alignment with DFAT and RACS compliance requirements relating to Child Safeguarding, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) and Fraud Control. The consultant will also document current medical waste disposal practices at each hospital and complete a RACS Health Care Waste Management Checklist. A full range of information will be provided to the selected consultant to inform assessments at this level.

Consultancy Deliverables

Key deliverables include:

  1. Effective capacity assessment tools that the RACS Global Health Team can continue to apply on an annual basis to update data on PIC Ministries of Health, Health Workforce and Hospital capacity as part of the ongoing monitoring of the PIP.
  2. Comprehensive capacity assessments of nominated Pacific Ministries of Health, Health Workforces and Hospitals providing trends over the last five years and data that can function as a baseline for the PIP and provide vital data sets for the planned, end of program evaluation. Capacity Assessments are to be presented to RACS Global Health as discrete Country Assessment Reports.

Timeframes

  1. Capacity assessment plan confirming the methodology to be used, key primary and secondary data sources, proposed global standards to be applied and confirmation of reporting structure by 15 October 2020.
  2. Draft desk-based assessment reports at the three, nominated operational levels to be submitted on 15 December 2020.
  3. Completed desk-based assessment reports at the three, nominated operational levels to be submitted on 15 January 2021.

The Consultant

RACS is seeking to engage a suitably qualified consultant. Therefore, the consultant should have the following skills and experience:

  • Post-graduate qualifications such as a Master of Public Health or Master of Health Administration.
  • Expertise in health systems strengthening research and programming.
  • Experience of work in health and development programming in low and middle-income countries.
  • Excellent written communication skills with the ability to produce high quality and accurate reports and assessments.

Expressions of Interest

To apply for this consultancy, please submit an Expression of Interest providing the following:

  • An estimated costing based on days of work and deliverables aligned to the required timeframe.
  • A brief outline of the research methodology you will use to undertake the multi-level capacity assessments.
  • Evidence of a body of work in this field which demonstrates your capability to meet the requirements and deliverables of the consultancy. Please provide 2 examples of written work with your application.
  • Two professional referees that can substantiate your claims and capability to undertake the consultancy.

Please click on Apply Now to submit your expression of interest.

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