Cordaid Director Brief Visit to CSSC HQT

The higher Level Conference for PBF is scheduled to be held in Dar-Es-salaam- Tanzania at Bank of Tanzania Conference  from 6th- 7th March 2012. Most of the invited members have arrived for the meeting and amongst them was a Cordaid Director- Mr. Renè Grontenhuis with his delegation.  He had a brief meeting with the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC) Executive Director- Mr. Peter Maduki and some of the Conference organizing Committee from: CSSC, HDP and Cordiad.

In the brief discussion, the CSSC Executive Director highlighted the historical background of CSSC, the Public private partnership in regard to health service provision, the funding for the CSSC.  Additionally, he expressed the challenges which are prevailing in the Voluntary Agency Hospitals (VAH), though there exist the variation from one local government to the other based on economic capacity.

On the other hand,the Cordaid Director commended the commitment for Tanzania to organize the PBF higher Level Conference which will take place from 6th - 7th March 2012 and wished all responsible for  organizing the conference success in  their preparations.  Below is the  photo during their meeting at CSSC  Executive Directors office

 

The Second District PBF Forum for 2011

Rungwe PBF Pilot Project established District PBF forum in 2010 August for the aim of bringing state, church and community members in the District to discuss various issues of interest on health, whereby Performance Based Financing (PBF) which is a new Health Financing Approach in Tanzania was priority agenda.  However, the forum served a purpose of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the District and spearheaded discussion and signing of Service Agreement in Rungwe District.   Normally, these forums are held twice per year, at the beginning and at the end of the year.

The members of the forum are drawn from the Church leaders, local government officials, the health facilities representatives and the community representatives. 

For the year 2011, the second District PBF forum was successfully held on 13^th December 2011.  It aimed at updating forum members on Rungwe PBF Pilot Project Progress and assesses the public private partnership through the signed Service Agreement between two hospitals in Rungwe (Itete and Igogwe) and Rungwe District Council.

As an update after the opening remarks, the Zonal Secretary –Fr. Lukas Komba explained briefly the new organizational set- up at the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC) and welcomed Director of Technical Support Services from Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC) - Mr. Michael Angulile who brought greetings from the Head office and expressed about the coming of the new Executive Director Mr. Peter Maduki who took over from Dr. Adeline Kimambo who finished her contract.

 Thereafter, the Chairperson for the Southern Zone- Rt. Rev. Bishop Israel- Peter Mwakyolile informed the members that the Zonal Secretary- Fr. Lukas Komba is called by his Bishop and he will leave in January 2012. On behalf of the Southern Zone he thanked him for his hard work and commitment to make the South Zone amongst the best Zones. Additionally, he acknowledged the great contribution of Ms. Helga Schneider- who was the Technical Advisor for the Southern Zone and who finished her contract in October 2011. He finally acknowledged the good job of the outgoing Executive Director and congratulated the new Executive Director for his appointment.

There were basically two presentations.  The first presentation was done by Zonal PBF Coordinator- Mr.Sule, T.Michael on PBF Forum updates.  The second presentation was on: Public Private Partnership- A process with both Ups & Down. By Mr. Michael Angulile- Director for Technical Support Services from Christian Social Services Commission ( CSSC).

On Updates, the presentation indicated activities realized since last forum held in May 2011: Finalizing Strategic and Operational Plans for 6 health facilities, Costing of 4 Health facilities out of 12 and Negotiations for Service Agreement Signing between two hospitals with Rungwe District Council.  Other activities were Coordination of Training of 20 Health Staff by Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), and Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC) for Government and Voluntary Faith Based Organization (FBO) facilities in Sept 2011. Moreover, the Service Agreement was signed between Igogwe and Itete hospitals with Rungwe District Council in October 2011, participation in Mid- Term Review for PBF Pilot Project done in November 2011 for Zambia for Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) implementing PBF, Participation in PBF Multi-country Network Steering Committee meeting Kigali- November 2011, Re-training of Facility FGC’s in 12 Health Facilities November 2011, and Sharing PBF Information to Zonal Policy Forum (ZPF) Members in Lindi  in November 2011,finally, managing the PBF Rungwe Pilot blog with below address http://pbf-rungwe.blogspot.com/, for information sharing and dissemination within the multi-Country network. The blog is serving as the window for Rungwe PBF Pilot Project.

On the other hand, the Challenges Experienced in the project were pointed out being: Process of Signing Service Agreement with the Local Government Authorities is time consuming and complex and the delay in fund Disbursement for Service Agreement to Health facilities and Change of Policy on Consolidated Council health Plans (CCHP), which brought big change in the project set up especially on fund for purchasing of indicators.

On the other hand, the second Presentation focused on Public Private Partnerships
Overview; on General information on Public Private Partnership, the rationale for Public Private Partnership, Some positive results of Public Private Partnership, emerging discrepancies of Public Private Partnership and Lesson learnt.  It was noted that with time the partnership is improving to the extent that we have platform to discuss issues and agree jointly on ways to make them better.  This appears as small but has significant contribution in the public Private Partnership as manifested by the Rungwe PBF Pilot Project which managed to bring in important stakeholders in health to discuss matters of interest.

Thereafter, very objective discussions followed which assessed the Service Agreement which was just signed in Rungwe.  It was learnt that the hindrance for smooth Service agreement was delay of fund disbursement which was above the District Council to deal with at the point of time.  That means, it is a problem at the Central level.

As a way forward, the forum members concluded that: first, the Church leaders should have regular meetings  with the Government leaders to address staff exodus from Church health facilities to government health facilities and establish modalities to manage that, so that church facilities remain with qualified health staff. Secondly, the government should fulfill her obligation, which in the context of Public Private Partnership (PPP) is to financially support Church Health facilities that Sign Service Agreement. See the Photo of Rungwe PBF District Forum Proceedings.

 

Facility Governing Committees (FGCs) Re-training

The year 2011 was one of the hectic and successful in Rungwe PBF Pilot Project Implementation.  It was basically featured with a lot of works and events which are worth noting.  One of the important event was re-training of the Facility Governing Committees (FGC’s) members from 12 health facilities under Rungwe PBF Pilot Project. Their main function is to strengthen the clients Voice in health care Provision in the health facilities apart from other functions. The activity took three days in total from 6^th- 8^th December 2011, and was done in three clusters by Rungwe PBF Pilot Project Team.

The Objective of the Training was to enhance the capacity of the facility Governing Committee (FGC’s) members in management of the health facilities by making concrete their roles and responsibilities. Thus, there were two presentations made by Zonal PBF Coordinator: The Roles and Responsibilities of Facility Governing Committees and the second presentation focused on the general information on Rungwe PBF Pilot Project.

The training was conducted in three clusters based on geographical location of the health facilities. Cluster one was Tukuyu which had these facilities: Igogwe Hospital, Tukuyu Health Centre, Kisa Health Centre, Rungwe Mission Dispensary and Kalebela Dispensary. Cluster two was Mwakaleli and composed of three health facilities namely: Mwakaleli, Mbigili and Mpata Dispensaries.  The third Cluster was Itete with four facilities: Itete hospital, Ntaba Dispensary, Manow Dispensary and Kasyabone Dispensary.

Generally, the participation was good. On 6^th December 2011 at Tukuyu Cluster (56%) attended the session. It was followed by training on 7^th December 2011, at Mwakaleli Cluster and the participation was (82%), and lastly, on 8^th December 2011, at Itete Cluster the attendance was (80.9 %).

Additionally, the training was used as a feedback session for the facility Governing Committee members on how they performed their roles and responsibilities and the challenges they encountered in playing their roles. It was clear they play a linking role between the clients and the facility management.  The training enabled members to see their roles in concrete terms and they eventually promised to work hand in hand with the facilities management teams  to improve the health facilities conditions for the benefit of the community.

Being an adult learning, the facilitator employed participatory methodology- thus it was brief presentation and followed by discussions and Comments.  As the results, the participants made number of comments regarding improving the health facilities.  The outstanding ones being: health facilities to recruit the retired Medical Personnel to curb the acute human resource gaps experienced. Another comment  was to orient the facility Governing members on  the Strategic and Operational Plans and use the plans. Lastly, the in charges to contact the District Medical Officer (DMO) for the remuneration of the Facility Governing Committees (FGC’s)members when they meet as part of their motivation.  Currently, most of the health facilities are facing financial constraints to the extent of failing calling meetings according to schedules which is on quarterly basis.

In a nutshell, the re-training of the Facility Governing Committee members managed to achieve the set objective. It is anticipated that they will link the community and health facilities, and in so doing the client’s voice be strengthened, which will lead to improve health services provision in the health facilities they represent.

See Group Photo of the Participants after training Session at Mwakaleli Cluster.

The Bishops and Chairpersons briefed on Performance Based Financing.

The Zonal Coordinator for Rungwe Performance Based Financing was invited by the CSSC Zonal Secretary to make a presentation on Performance Based Financing to Zonal Policy Forum members-(who are Bishops and Chairpersons).  The meeting was held in Lindi (which is Southern Tanzania) on 30^th November 2011. The aim of the presentation was advocacy for Performance Based Financing in Health Care provision in the Southern Zone. The forum members were composed of:  Bishops and Church Chairpersons from the Southern Zone apart from the officials from Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC) and a total of 28 Leaders attended this meeting.

The Presentation was focus on general information on Performance Based Financing as new approach in health care in Tanzania, project information (objectives, expected Results, stakeholders, principles), and updates of project progress, the challenges and proposed solutions.

After the presentation, the members were mainly concerned with challenges which mainly were on the issue of policy change on Comprehensive Council Consolidated Health Plans (CCHP), based on this presentation and others by RMO Lindi Presentation on Public Private Partnership, whereby he also noted that.  Unfortunately, this change has affected financing of Performance Based Financing.

As a way forward, the members anonymously declared that they will organize a forum in which they would call the Minister for Health and Social Welfare to practically discuss ways of improving conditions in the Voluntary Agencies Hospitals (VAHS).  Suggested improvement included: The Government to provide Drugs, Medical Supplies and pay the salaries for the qualified staff.  That was discussed in line with the general trend on Service Agreement which needs more improvement on financing part.  Below is the Group Photo of the Participants after the official opening.

 

Star Television broadcasted Service Agreement signing between Igogwe, Itete Hospitals and Rungwe District Council

The signing Ceremony for the service Agreement between two Voluntary Agency  hospitals namely: Igogwe and Itete hospital Versus Rungwe District Council was held on 5th October 2011 at Youth Centre in Tukuyu and broadcasted by Local Television called Star Television on 6th October 2011, during the evening news at 20hrs.  Here is the clip containing the information.

Igogwe and Itete Hospitals Signed Service Agreement with Rungwe District Council

The long waited Service Agreement between two Voluntary Agency Hospitals in Rungwe District Council namely: Igogwe and Itete hospitals was colourfully signed today with Local Government – Rungwe District Council at Youth Centre in Tukuyu.

The agreement was signed by: Bishop Evaristo Chengula- Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Mbeya and Otinel A. Mlimba on Behalf of Dr. Israel – Peter Mwakyolile- the   Bishop of ELCT Konde Diocese with District Executive Director for Rungwe District Council.  The event was witnessed by DMO Rungwe, Rungwe District Council Legal Advisor. From the side of the Church- the Health Secretaries for Konde Diocese and Catholic Diocese of Mbeya were present together with management teams from two hospitals.  Importantly, the CSSC Zonal Team- the Zonal Secretary and Technical Advisor participated in the signing of Service Agreement ceremony.

  Before signing the agreement, brief speeches were delivered.  The DMO for Rungwe District gave an overview of Service Agreement.  That, this Service agreement will be for two main services: Reproductive and Child Health (RCH)- that means, pregnant women and under five years children (Out Patients) will access free services for one year and second component is to Establish and Strengthen Organizational Structures and Institutional capacities for Improved Health service Management at all levels.  Through this agreement, the hospitals will benefit by having staff as they will be employed by the government and posted there.   

Based on that information, the Church leaders acknowledged the Government for agreeing to sign Service Agreement with these two hospitals.  Basically, the hospitals are providing services to the community of Rungwe without any segregation.  The Bishop argued the management team to work hard in ensuring the services is provided according to quality standards as expressed in the agreement for the betterment of the People they serve.

As a response to that, the District Executive Director commented the efforts of the two hospitals in Rungwe namely: Igogwe and Itete Hospitals.  He added that, the agreement would help in solving one of the challenging area- staff shortages, as the agreement would be used to employ staff to the hospitals.  Again, he noted that this agreement will definitely improve collaboration as both parties will have to discuss the progress of the agreement and that is in the spirit of Public Private Partnership.

Finally, one of Rungwe PBF Pilot Project outputs which is to harmonize PBF approach  between the State and the Church through Service Agreement Signing has been met today.  It is hoped that agreement will be successful and ultimately the health Care of the People in Rungwe get improved.

See the Group Photo after Signing the Service Agreement: Seated In front at the middle -Bishop Evaristo Chengula from Catholic Diocese of Mbeya, to the right side is District Executive Director, Rungwe District Council; Mr.N. Mahyenga and to the left side, General Secretary; Konde Diocese. Mr. Otinel  A. Mliba.

Second Year Rungwe PBF training Closing Ceremony

The second year Rungwe PBF Training was officially closed today by Dean Rev. Geoffrey Mwakihaba- Assistant Bishop of ELCT Konde Diocese as the guest of honour.

Before his speech, the course participants read a brief note which was mainly thanking the EU and Cordaid for financing PBF project, which resulted to training health staff in Rungwe so that they become change agents in propagating the PBF in the area.  They noted that they have benefited much from training on how to implement PBF project.  They added that the training was user friendly as it was conducted in Kiswahili which is a national language understood by all the people.

Additionally, they shared the information from the field visit on application of PBF especially to facilities whose staff were trained on PBF and those had who chances to attend other training conducted by the project at Rungwe.  Some of the application included development of strategic plans, costing of services and better management of income and expenditure.   They also noted community participation through facility governing committees and initiatives of signing service agreement between two hospitals in Rungwe (Itete and Igogwe ) with District Council- hopefully September 2011.

Thereafter, Dr. Manongi- PBF Training Coordinator from KCMC gave a brief note of training modules covered all in Swahili, and further said that they have incorporated the comments from last year’s training as a result they have a first draft PBF Manual- in Swahili which however need to  be rechecked by PBF practitioners so that the concept are kept intact from the original manual (Soeters, 2011) book on PBF in Action Theory and Instruments. She elaborated that this year the average pass mark has greatly increased as compared to last year training.  Definitely, the reason for the improvement could be due to maximum use of Swahili in the training sessions, which is understood clearly by all the participants.   She, welcomed the guest of honour for his speech and to hand over certificates to the participants.

In his closing speech, the guest of honour acknowledged the financial support from EU and Cordaid for Rungwe PBF Pilot Project.  Furthermore, he commended the great efforts of KCMC team for conducting this  intensive ten days training for Rungwe Team on New health financing approach  which is performance Based Financing.  He argued the trainees to bring change in their facilities on Performance by being Pioneers and advocates on this new approach.  He assured them that this is possible as they have acquired required knowledge and skills to effect that and they have all the backing from the owners of the health facilities and the local Government authority.  Thereafter, he submitted the certificate of attendance to all 20 participants for the PBF Course.

Finally, the participants departed with high morale on PBF and enthusiastic to bring difference in the health facilities they work, and they put on T-shirts and caps provided by Rungwe PBF pilot Project as part of Promotion for PBF in the District.

See the group Photo of the Trainees and trainers in a smiling face with the Guest of Honour (in a Clerical Shirt).