Type: Individual Consultant
Duty Station: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Closing Date: 10 November 2024, midnight Sri Lanka time (GMT +5:30)
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2022-2025), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.
Sri Lanka has achieved impressive improvements in maternal and newborn health, largely attributable to maternal and newborn healthcare services. Maternal and newborn health indicators in Sri Lanka come close to those in economically advanced countries. However, stagnation is seen in the maternal and child mortality ratios in the recent past, which demands focused attention on improving maternal and newborn care services. For further improvement in health status, it is essential to improve the quality of care provision to mothers and newborns.
In 2017, a set of tools was developed to evaluate the quality of healthcare services provided to mothers and newborns in Sri Lankan healthcare institutions. These tools were specifically designed to assess the standard of maternal and newborn care in antenatal and postnatal wards, labour rooms, and neonatal units. However, their
implementation across institutions has faced challenges, primarily due to the extensive nature of the tools.
As such, the UNFPA is supporting the Family Health Bureau (FHB) in hiring a consultant to develop 04 mini tools (wards, labour rooms, and neonatal units) to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality. The consultancy aims at drafting and finalizing a set of mini tools for assessing maternal and newborn healthcare quality, under the guidance of a working group to be appointed by FHB.
The consultant is expected to carry out the following activities during the period November 2024 to January 2025.
Tasks:
- Consultations with the Directors and relevant stakeholders including the Family Health Bureau, and the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety on the proposed activity.
- Scrutinize the relevant literature, including the existing Sri Lanka national maternal newborn care quality assessment tools and other similar global and regional tools.
- Conducting discussions with relevant stakeholders on the existing Sri Lanka national maternal newborn care quality assessment tools.
- Draft an outline of the mini tools to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality. This should be drafted in line with the main tools available in antenatal, post-natal, labour room and neonatal care.
- In concurrence with the Family Health Bureau, the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety and the working group, modify the draft outline of the mini tools to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality.
- Based on the comments received regarding the outline of the mini tools, develop 04 mini tools (antenatal, post-natal, labour room and neonatal care) to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality.
- In concurrence with the Family Health Bureau, the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety and the working group, modify the mini tools to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality.
- Prepare a final version of the mini tools to assess maternal and newborn healthcare quality, revised according to feedback from the FHB, DHQS and the working group.
Please refer to the Terms of Reference for further details.