Closing date: 05 Oct 2018
Background
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian network that reaches 150 million people in 190 National Societies through the work of over 17 million volunteers. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles; humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent aims to respond to disasters as rapidly and effectively as possible, by mobilising its resources by using its network in a coordinated manner so that the needs of the affected communities are met. The ERUs (Emergency Response Unit) are vital in the IFRC's disaster response tools system. They provide specific support or direct services when local facilities are either destroyed, overwhelmed by need, or do not exist. An ERU is a team of trained technical specialists, ready to be deployed at short notice, which uses pre-packed sets of standardised equipment. More information about ERU’s can be found here: http://www.ifrc.org/eru
Patient safety is a cornerstone of all high-quality health care. IFRC chairs various working groups and coordinates processes to improve patient safety through Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), smart practices and quality assured training for staff. IFRC has also developed a humanitarian health competency matrix where expected clinical competencies to provide quality health care are described. Clinical care after disasters is closely linked to other sectors and patient safety should not limit to direct health care. With the WHO EMT-initiative that sets minimum standards for clinical care during disasters, patient safety and quality assurance need to be even more emphasised. Quality Framework for clinical care is, therefore, an essential part of improving patient safety within IFRC clinical response to disasters. As an organisation, IFRC commits to core humanitarian standards on quality and accountability. We focus on a strategic approach to improving the quality of our health services and bringing measurable improvements by creating and applying the quality assurance framework.
Job purpose: to develop the IFRC Quality Assurance Framework for clinical care with the following deliverables and outcomes
Deliverables
The consultant will:
Become familiar with the ERU clinical services
Become familiar with current documents and tools supporting quality assurance
Plan and conduct interviews related to patient safety and quality assurance with key informants and personnel who have worked in ERU clinical services.
Familiarize with internal reports and risk assessments.
Identify critical areas of improvement to support safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led clinical care.
Provide a brief report of the findings and recommendations
Based on the results create a Quality Assurance Framework that focuses on quality improvement and control and involves all key stakeholders.
Plan the way forward; suggest instruments and tools for quality monitoring, reporting and improvement.
The consultant may also be asked to travel to Geneva to conduct interviews and to present a framework and associated tools.
Outputs
Inception report
A finalised Quality assurance framework
Written plan the way forward for implementation of the framework, including needed resources
End of assignment report by the consultant/the team
All reports and documents to be provided in English
The language used for the Quality Assurance Framework needs to be culturally and linguistically appropriate and respect Red Cross/Red Crescent fundamental principles
Timeline
Six months from the beginning of the consultancy. The final product to be ready by June 2019
We believe that the successful proposal is submitted by a consultant or a team with most of the following skills and competencies:
At least ten years of professional experience in a humanitarian setting
Knowledge and previous experience of clinical care during disasters
Knowledge and experience working in multinational teams and professionals with a diverse background
Degree in medicine or healthcare
Knowledge and experience in assessing, monitoring, reporting and improving patient safety and healthcare quality
Experience in designing quality improvement tools
Familiarity with WHO EMT-initiative
Fluent in spoken and written English
Experience in academic writing
Ability to travel to Geneva Switzerland
How to apply:
Please draft a proposal including concept, workplan and budget. Submit your proposal together with your CV(s) to emergency.health@ifrc.org by 5th of October 2018. Any further questions related to the consultancy may be sent to the same email address.