Project Coordinator, Quality of Institutional Care

E4A Nigeria Job description: Project Coordinator, QuIC 1. BACKGROUND 1.1

Evidence for Action (E4A)

Evidence for Action (E4A) is a five year programme (2011-2016) managed by Options Consultancy Services and funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to improve maternal and newborn survival through a combined focus on evidence, advocacy and accountability across six sub-Saharan African countries: Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania. The E4A consortium brings together experts from academic institutions, internationally recognised advocacy and accountability coalitions and civil society organisations. It works through local institutions in each of the six selected countries which host a small E4A Country Team. E4A’s overall aim is to improve timely access to birth in facilities which save maternal and newborn lives, with a particular focus on ensuring that hospitals, as the final piece of the referral chain and the central base for supportive supervision across other facilities, are able to provide life-saving care for mothers and newborns. Three sub-strategies will enable E4A to effect this change, in the aim that: 

Every single maternal and perinatal death is reviewed effectively and acted upon.

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Evidence underpins decisions and accountability in maternal and newborn health (MNH) at all levels of the health system.

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Maternal and newborn survival is a priority for all Nigerians, through the reach of the Mama Ye! campaign and website, which will inspire and engage the whole community, and raise expectation to stimulate action by others.

Set-up primarily with the remit to catalyse transformative change in maternal and newborn healthcare access and delivery, the E4A Nigeria in-country team remains small in size, consisting of a Country Director, Evidence Adviser, an Advocacy Coordinator and a Communications Specialist. The team receives targeted technical assistance from the Technical Support Unit at Options. 1.2

Piloting Quality of Institutional Care (QuIC)

Monitoring of quality of care can be integrated into routine health information systems but many are not available to decision makers in a timely fashion to facilitate immediate responses to quality of care (QoC) issues and often data is not presented for facilities separately. In response the “Quality of Institutional Care” (QuIC) approach has been designed to provide a practical, low cost, low resource and fast way to gather ‘real-time’ facility level quality of care data using phone networks.

An opportunity has arisen to implement QuIC in all six E4A countries, as well as Zambia and Uganda, and is jointly funded by NORAD and UKAID. The process will be supported by the UK based QuIC Implementation Team. The following process will be followed in the implementation of a QuIC Pilot in Nigeria: -

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conduct a scoping exercise (relevant literature on QoC; QoC assessments; government QoC standards/guidelines/protocols/quality assurance plans; existing processes in operation for current data collection, feedback and supervision; review current formats for feedback to government and health facilities) design approach to implement QUIC in Jigawa and/or Kano adapt QuIC tool to the country-specific context obtain ethical approval build the capacity of district/regional staff to administer and utilise the QUIC tool

In collaboration with and working through the government: - develop format for QuIC feedback to facilities - develop format for QuIC feedback to government - prepare QuIC implementation plan and timeframe - identify facilities that meet the criteria for implementing QuIC - select facilities for implementing QuIC - identify relevant contact persons at selected facilities and obtain contact details - orientate relevant stakeholders and contact persons at selected facilities - collect QuIC data from selected facilities on a quarterly basis - feedback to QuIC facilities on a quarterly basis and ensure staff can interpret findings - feedback to government staff on a quarterly basis and ensure they can interpret findings - throughout the process learning from implementing the QuIC approach will be documented along with its potential for generating action and will be disseminated nationally and internationally - findings will feed into a Quality of Care Toolkit which will be developed based on the experience of measuring quality of care across all 6 E4A countries

2. JOB SUMMARY 2.1 Lead project responsibility for implementing QUIC Pilot 2.1.1

Stakeholder liaison and relationship building

National level: At the national level the Project Coordinator is expected to: -

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Liaise with all relevant stakeholders in Nigeria, including convening meetings/workshops as required, to ensure the convergence between the QuIC approach and the government’s quality of care needs; explore how QuIC can be effectively integrated into existing mechanisms. Obtain the necessary approval letters for implementing QuIC.

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Have regular communication with stakeholders to review the tool design, feedback of results, and QuIC approach.

Jigawa and Kano States: The Project Coordinator is expected to: -

obtain approval for implementing QuIC from the relevant stakeholders orientate relevant individuals about QuIC and the implementation process explore opportunities for integrating QuIC into existing supervision or other regular visits to participating health facilities build the capacity of regional and district-level health management teams to administer and utilise the QUIC tool liaise closely with government counterparts on QUIC implementation support the co-ordination and conducting of spot-checks ensure results from QuIC are received and understood by all relevant stakeholders and health facilities support government in using the QUIC tool to take targeted actions to improve quality of care at institutional-level

2.1.2 Overseeing the implementation of the QuIC project At the outset of the programme the Project Coordinator is expected to: -

support the process for gaining ethical approval for implementing QuIC in Nigeria identify and provide additional relevant literature / documents / information for a scoping exercise undertaken to support planning for the effective implementation of QuIC in Nigeria identify relevant government officials in Jigawa and Kano design approach to implement QUIC in Jigawa and/or Kano build the capacity of government to administer and utilise the QUIC tool In collaboration with and working through the regional and district-level health management teams: identify all facilities that meet the given criteria and select ones to be included in the piloting of QuIC prepare an implementation plan, including timeframe and budget identify contact persons at the selected facilities co-ordinate (including the logistical planning) and participate in orientation visits to government offices and health facilities support the design of the feedback mechanisms to facilities and reporting to stakeholders

On a quarterly basis the Project Coordinator is expected to support the government to: -

ensure data are collected bv telephone, as per the implementation plan ensure data entry and analysis is up to date produce feedback reports/scorecards for health facilities and ensure they are distributed produce reports for E4A and government officials quarterly and ensure they are distributed

On a regular basis the Project Coordinator is expected to: -

support the co-ordination and undertaking of spot-checks of participating health facilities and meet with relevant government officials

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have regular communication with health facilities and respond to any telephone/email/face to face queries from health facilities and government officials document any queries/concerns from health facilities/government officials/other stakeholders, as well as the challenges faced and lessons learned to support as part of the documentation of the QuIC implementation process build the capacity of government officials and facility staff in monitoring quality of care and interpretation of findings

2.1.3 Liaising with UK based QuIC Implementation Team The Project Coordinator is expected to have regular discussions and provide prompt feedback about the QuIC implementation progress, stakeholder liaison and relationship building to a member of the QuIC Implementation Team via email and skype conversations (including informing of any queries raised by health facility staff / government officials). They are also expected to work closely with any members of the QuIC Implementation Team during visits. The QuIC Implementation Team will support and quality assure: ethical approval; systematic review; tool adaptation; capacity building of government personnel administering tool; facility selection, the implementation plan, quarterly technical reporting to donors (UKAID, NORAD); analysis, interpretation, feedback and dissemination of quarterly results. 2.2 Assigned duties relating to other aspects of E4A Tanzania project activities (estimated as 10% of Job Summary) It is estimated that the coordination of QUIC Pilot in Nigeria will take up to 90% of the Project Coordinator’s time. This position is therefore being hired with the expectation that the Project Coordinator will also be assigned duties in supporting other project activities of E4A Nigeria including the Mama Ye! campaign. The specific duties will depend on where the Project Coordinator’s time can be most efficiently and effectively but it is likely to include developing short advocacy messages based on quality of care data targeted to different audiences and analysing, collating and reporting on the dissemination and feedback of SMS QoC advocacy messages. 2.3 Person specification Essential -

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At least three years of experience in a position that involved working with the Nigerian health system, senior health service managers and clinical professionals (e.g. as a researcher, programme/project manager or health service manager) A good understanding of the Nigerian health system and maternal and newborn health A good understanding of the Nigeria decentralised administrative system and how health systems fit within this setting Practical experience of working effectively with managers at different levels of the health system in Nigeria, from national to district and facility-levels Practical experience of research or collecting monitoring information for a service or project, ideally on a donor project/research project with a health component Practical experience of managing/ implementing a project involving a variety of stakeholders, and implementing activities according to schedule and to a good standard

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Practical experience of training and/or facilitating workshops Good communication skills when making presentations, facilitating workshops and in discussions with stakeholders Good written English and experience of writing project or research reports in English Proficient in MS word, excel and powerpoint and able to perform basic statistical analysis (e.g. frequencies and crosstabs) and present data graphically A demonstrated willingness to work extensively in Northern states in Nigeria

Desirable -

Post-graduate qualification in a relevant subject (e.g. public health, demography, epidemiology, research, monitoring and evaluation) Proficient in data analysis in SPSS, Access or Epi-info Able to create and manage databases Experience of conducting interviews in a research project/programme Experience of managing budgets Experience of assessing quality of care

2.4 Location The Project Coordinator will be based in the E4A Nigeria office in Kano, but the role will involve regular travel to Abuja and also Jigawa State if QuIC is piloted there.

2.5 Key relationships

2.5.1 Line Management and in-country technical support The Project Coordinator will be line managed by the E4A Evidence Advisor, who will have management oversight of the QuIC pilot. The E4A Evidence Adviser will provide technical support to the QuIC pilot; facilitate stakeholder engagement; ensure integration of QuIC with relevant activities; and support appropriate use of QuIC data in national and local quality improvement efforts. The E4A Country Director will provide director oversight and support to the pilot through line management of the E4A Evidence Adviser and participation in the key QUIC processes. 2.5.2 Technical Support from the UK The Project Coordinator will receive technical support from the UK based QuIC Implementation Team, who have overall responsibility for the implementation of QuIC across eight countries. The QuIC Implementation Team will provide day to day support to the implementation of the QuIC in Nigeria, including the preparation of the systematic review; guidance on the methodology and implementation process (advising on the final tool design, the orientation process, data input and analysis processes, feedback mechanisms and quality assurance) and documenting the QuIC implementation process so learning can be shared nationally and internationally. The Project Coordinator will also benefit from technical support from the E4A Nigeria technical support unit (TSU), which contributes to the overall E4A Nigeria strategy.