Consultant - To provide technical support to the Frontline service readiness assessment

Please see deliverables included in attached ToR

Area of expertise

To provide technical support to the Frontline service readiness assessment

Purpose of consultancy

The objectives of this consultancy are to provide technical support to the Frontline service readiness assessment and key activities under the WHO Joint Program of 2022-2023 and facilitate the development of the Assessment Report and required capacity building activities in line with national, regional, and global health agendas, including GPW13, regional and country’s health agenda in the context of SDGs and the UN Reforms.

Background

All countries around the world undergone, and still, the Covid 19 pandemic chock. Tunisia is engaged in the process of dealing with the Covid response and mobilized health system which lead to testing its resilience. The pandemic phase is an interesting opportunity to learn about the venues to build up a strong health system. In this sense, there is a need to conduct an assessment that will help guiding future strategies and actions in terms of reforms and policy implementation. A resilient health system is the one that will absorb the chocks of health emergency situations with an adaptation capacity to rapidly ensure the continuity of providing normal health services while dealing with pandemics.

WHO developed several tools and technical support to help countries assess their health system in a more standardized approach. This standardization is important later for a transnational learning among countries to adapt an internalize strategies and best practices for a resilient health system.

It has revealed that even robust health systems can be rapidly overwhelmed and compromised by an outbreak. In addition, new factors have emerged over time and further challenged health systems such as evolving variants of concern, changing treatment landscapes, and delivery of COVID-19 vaccination. Against this rapidly evolving situation, many countries are facing challenges in the availability of accurate and up-to-date data on capacities to respond to COVID-19 while maintaining the provision of essential health services safely. For example, few countries have reliable and timely data on existing and surge health workforce and service capacities.

In response to this situation WHO has developed a suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic. At the facility level, two tools were developed, one to assess service readiness to manage COVID-19 cases (COVID-19 case management: diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccine readiness, and other health products for COVID-19); and one to continue providing essential health services throughout the course of the pandemic (Continuity of essential health services: Facility assessment tool). The assessment tools were informed by relevant WHO tools and guidance on the continuity of essential health services and readiness planning for COVID-19 (2–12). Since the initial development in 2020, the facility assessment tools have been used in over 20 countries. With lessons learned from implementation and data use as well as a better understanding of the course of the pandemic, refining and improving initial methods is needed. This version of the assessment tool updates and integrates the two aforementioned facility assessment tools.

The revision also strengthens two important attributes of the proposed assessment approach: a rapid timeline for data collection-analysis-use, and frequent data collection (for example, quarterly) in sentinel facilities to monitoring trends. In order to achieve this, it is critical to use a parsimonious tool that provides data for key tracer indicators. Also, depending on the availability of human resources in each country, the use of a streamlined core tool can more easily facilitate country-specific adaptation of the tool to accommodate data needs specific to the country.

Deliverables

• Adapt the facility assessment tool to the Tunisian context,
• Identify a sample of institutions guided by the tool instructions.
• Identify participants to include in the survey.
• Conduct interviews by combining (face to face, internet, and phone) approaches
  • Review the data analysis tools and dashboard.
  • Analyse the assessment data.
  • Support report writing in close coordination with the technical unit
• Introduce the questionnaires in the platform
  • Review the data analysis tools and dashboard.
  • Analyse the assessment data.
  • Support report writing in close coordination with the technical unit
• Write a mission report for WHO Country Office
• Organize a meeting with the central focal point at MoH to
  • Adapt the tool
  • Identify key institutions to include in the survey
  • Establish a database of phone and contacts of participants
• Conduct interviews by phone and via internet and when feasible face to face
• Collect responded questionnaires and introduce them in the platform according to the guide instructions
• Review the analysis and write a brief report mission for WHO Country Office

The expected deliverables are:

• Deliverable 1:An adapted version of the tool to the local context of Tunisia
• Deliverable 2: Questionnaires collected and introduced in the tool (online) and output analysis is reviewed
• Deliverable 3: A report on the whole process

Education

Essential: First University degree in public health or social sciences

Desirable: Master’s degree in public health or social sciences

Experience

Essential: Minimum of 1 year of experience in relevant field related to research, plans development, facilitation and public health field.

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

• Excellent knowledge in conducting research (desk review, analysis, writing up of results, etc.),
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Reliability and accountability.

Language

Excellent knowledge of French, English language.

Location

Tunisia

Remuneration and Expected duration of contract (Maximum contract duration is 11 months per calendar year)

1. Remuneration: Grade NO-A
2. Expected duration of contract: 49 days within this period: Start date: 10/10/2022- End date: 30/12/2022

Medical clearance

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Hiring Unit

WHO Country Office Tunisia

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Travel

No travel is required.

WHO Competencies

Enhanced WHO Global Competency Model: https://www.who.int/employment/WHO_competencies_EN.pdf?ua=

• Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to apply on-line through Stellis. For assessment of your application, please ensure that:

  (a) Your profile on Stellis is properly completed and updated; (b) All required details regarding your qualifications, education and training are provided; (c) Your experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time.