CONTEXT
The project is located in the district of Kenema, Sierra Leone, which together with Kono and Kailahun belongs to what is called the eastern region (or eastern province) of the country. The district counts 654,124 inhabitants.
Human Resources for Health in Kenema district were particularly hard hit by the Ebola epidemic, notably at Kenema General Hospital, where many employees died from Ebola.
Kenema district is the epicentre of Lassa fever, a haemorrhagic fever transmitted through contact with fluids of sick patients or excreta of a rat of the genus mastomyst.
OCB supported 123 PHC facilities during a 9-month short-term project (that finished at the end of March 2016) by providing training staff and treatment of children under 5 against three major killers (ARI, diarrhoea and malaria), upgrading 6 delivery rooms (rehabilitation/water access/light) and supporting 5 vaccination rounds follow by a coverage survey.
OCB is also currently planning a project addressing mother and child health at primary health level in 2 remote chiefdoms of the district (Gorama Mende and Wandor).
Rationale of the project
Following the Ebola epidemic, access to care in Sierra Leone, especially secondary paediatrics and obstetrical care, remains greatly insufficient where prior to Ebola the Maternal Mortality Rate and infant mortality rate were already among the highest in the world.
OCB is also particularly interested in developing its modus operandi in health facilities located in Viral Haemorrhagic fever prevalent areas, increasing its knowledge on Lassa fever, and improving diagnostic capabilities for unspecified severe fever cases in children.
In addition, by implementing good practices in specific medical areas, MSF Belgium is willing to develop a reference structure for the training of health personnel in the district and even at a broader level (country, region) as well as for the international personnel.
Background
Prior to the Ebola outbreak, OCB who was running a paediatric and obstetric hospital (GRC) in Gondama near Bo and had already planned to close it and transfer its paediatrics services to a newly built hospital in Bo district.
Following the Ebola epidemic, the decision was made to completely review OCB plans. An assessment was initiated in the South East region (Kailahun, Kenema, Bo and Pujehun districts) which leads to the operational choice of investing in paediatric/obstetric secondary care in Kenema. This decision was motivated by three main reasons: the important needs in access of quality mother and child secondary care in the region, the high number of health staff that died during the Ebola outbreak in the area and the OCB willingness to sustain and develop its expertise in paediatrics and Lassa fever management.
After evaluating the feasibility of directly supporting the Kenema Government Hospital, it has been decided to set up an independent MSF structure in order to ensure/control conditions guaranteeing quality secondary care and health security for the medical staff (expatriate, national).
Discussion regarding the hospital project has started with the district and National authorities in August this year and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed late November allowing MSF to engage in the following:
- Build/Set up a new paediatric and maternity hospital in Kenema district using high quality, long-lasting pre-fabricated materials. A plot of land was identified and will be made available to MSFB for the construction of the hospital.
- Run and Manage the MSF hospital for a period of minimum 10 years.
- Facilitate the hospital as quality training centre for MoHS medical and nursing students.
- MSFB will avoid “brain-drain” by not hiring current staff of Kenema Government Hospital.
Considering the complexity for implementing a 200 beds pediatric/obstetric hospital, the department of operations decided to set up a dedicated team as part of the Cell 3 for the duration of the project. This team lead by a project coordinator is directly under the CO responsibility. It will be composed of four core members: a project coordinator, a medical referent, a human resources referent and a logistic referent, all based at the HQ level but spending time as much as needed in the field and on site.
The dedicated team will be in charge of the whole process from the project design to the hospital construction and the start of the activities, in addition to regular consultations and negotiations with key stakeholders and authorities.
They will work in close collaboration with the cell members and the coordination team at the field level in order to ensure a proper and smooth hand-over of the hospital project to the mission.
This dedicated team will also be the interface between the technical departments (mainly medical, human resources, logistic and punctually more specific departments/expertise) and the operations, guaranteeing that adequate resources are mobilized for the proper implementation of the project in compliance with operational lines.
MAIN RESPONSABILITY
As one of the core member of the project team, the HUMAN RESOURCES REFERENT will contribute to the conception (human resources component of the project design), the implementation and the start of the Kenema Mother and Child Hospital.
Under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, he/she will work in close collaboration with all relevant specialists from the HQ and in contact with the cell members for developing a long term training strategy targeting health students and MOH personal. He will also ensure the proper HR organization and staffing of the MSF Mother and Child hospital that is expected to be open by beginning of 2018.
Specific Responsibilities
- Contribute to the project design by proposing an innovative approach to health worker training with the support of the human resources department/learning & development unit (long term perspective).This will imply to work in close collaboration with the MOHS authorities and other local key partners (Universities, nursing school, ONGs), for defining the OCB contribution to the health education system. It could comprehend creating an OCB scholarship, involvement in nursing and CHO schools training, receiving nursing, CHO, medical students for practical training at KMCH
- Develop strategies to staff the hospital in a context where skilled human resources for health are scarce without contributing to drain HR from the public health sector and notably from Kenema General Hospital (partnerships, health workers development).
- Define in close collaboration with the hospital management referent the hospital management set up.
- Implement all the required international & OCB HR tools (HR needs & analysis, staff ratio, internal regulations, evaluation, job profiles, etc.) and develop specific ones for the hospital management in Sierra Leone
- Plan and supervise the recruitment process of the whole hospital staff
- Participate with the other core members to working groups (PATIO) when appropriated.
- Define the RH activities planning and contribute to the general chronogram, with a particular attention to human resources aspects (training and health staff development, sizing of the workforce, recruitment mechanisms)
- Contribute to the planning of the overall budget.
- Contribute with the other core members to the writing of key documents such as: Project Document and concept mapping, CoPro document, Masterplan, HR strategy/HR management tools, Service Level Agreement (SLA), Project planning, Budget forecast.
- Contribute with the medical referent to define precisely resources necessary for the functioning of the hospital.
- Accompany the opening of the hospital by guarantee a smooth transition with the Kenema hospital HR responsible
- Contribute to the writing of the project’s situation report (Project Sitrep).
