EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR PROVISION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE TO NON FRANCHISED FACILITIES IN SUPPORT OF AN ADOLESCENT AND YOUTH SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE H – Kenya

Background

Triggerise is a global non-profit organisation that is headquartered in South Africa. Our main aim is to motivate young people to make positive choices using innovative technology, real-time data, and behavioural insights. Through our digital platform, Tiko, and our local ecosystem of partners, we connect Tiko members to existing local service providers to meet their health and wellness needs. As part of this ecosystem, Triggerise provides access to quality-assured sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services through a network of private and public health facilities and pharmacies. To ensure quality in the relevant services accessed by adolescents and youth through the Tiko platform, Triggerise is looking to work with a pool of Independent Quality Assurance (QA) Providers to provide quality assurance (QA) and quality improvement (QI) to the private and non-franchised health facilities within the ecosystem. The provision of these services will be done through what will be called the Tiko QA Marketplace to ensure that the private and non-franchised facilities are:

• At the expected level to provide quality services in the areas of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) including contraceptives, HIV testing services, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), antiretroviral treatment (ART) and mental health by conducting clinical audits to identify QA gaps, training and competency needs;
• Continuously supported to correctly and accurately offer youth-friendly AYSRH services by addressing the identified QA gaps as part of QI improvement; and
• Up to date on their licensing and re-certification requirements (for both the facility and staff), as prescribed by the respective governing bodies and the law.

Scope of Work (SOW) and Expectations

Triggerise is registered in Kenya and has its main office in Nairobi but carries out its programmes in fifteen counties including Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Kajiado, Homa Bay, Kisii, Kilifi, Bungoma, Siaya, Migori, Vihiga, Busia, Kakamega, Nyamira and Nakuru.

Triggerise expects all facilities onboarded on the Tiko platform to offer AYSRH services and maintain high levels of QA. Prior to working with Triggerise, a service readiness and availability assessment (SARA) will be conducted by Triggerise in the facilities to ensure they meet the minimum requirements for service delivery. This forms part of due diligence done by Triggerise to ensure that private health providers onboarded into the Tiko Platform meet the required legal threshold and have a favourable infrastructure and goodwill for AYSRH service delivery.

Therefore, the contracted independent QA providers from the Tiko QA Marketplace will be expected to provide QA support to private and non-franchised facilities. Work will include the following activities:

• Clinical and competency audits, baseline needs assessments and development of quality improvement plans (QIP);
• Training needs and competency assessments;
• Periodical support supervision visits;
• Compliance with clinical regulations and licensing requirements.

Examples of Expected Deliverables

Through our Tiko QA Marketplace, Triggerise will contract for 2 types of QA providers; one which will focus on QA audits and development of the QIP (QA provider 1), one which will focus on the implementation and management of the QIP (QA provider 2). The expectations and deliverables of the two different QA providers are found below:

Example of deliverables for Independent QA Provider 1

Main Role: QA Auditor

Main Deliverable: Independent QA Audit Report

• Clinical audits: clinical facility audits conducted for each facility on the platform annually to identify QA/QI gaps
• Training needs and competency assessment: competency and training gaps identified on the different health offers for each facility
• QIPs: QIP developed using gaps identified from SARA, clinical audit (including identifying infrastructural, process, and documentation gaps), and training needs assessments
• Preceding QIP appraisals: achievements and rectification of gaps from the previous QIPs confirmed and noted
• Report: final summary report (independent QA audit report) from the assessments produced, shared and handed over to the Triggerise QA Specialist
• Report on learnings: learnings documented, presented, and discussed with Triggerise’s QA Specialist.

Example of deliverables for QA Provider 2

Main Role: Coach / Mentor / Trainer

Main Deliverable: Competent providers in non-franchised private facilities

• Updated QIP and QA implementation plan: a detailed work plan shared with the Triggerise QA Specialist to specify the activities, resources and timelines it will take to execute the QIPs
• QIP implementation: continuous progress reports on the gaps rectified and achievements against the key QIP milestones
• Clinical competency conducted: report on the number of Tiko providers who are fully competent for the relevant services they provide
• Training (on-job or classroom or mentorship or coaching) conducted: training reports provided to indicate the number of training sessions conducted and competency scoring of each facility to indicate improvement
• Infrastructure, process and documentation corrections: correcting the gaps identified on infrastructure, process and documentation
• Final assessment and reporting: performance review with the provider to discuss client rating reports and client exit reports and service uptake numbers
• Report on learnings: learnings documented, presented, and discussed with the Triggerise QA team.

Examples of Roles and Responsibilities for Independent QA Provider 1:

Quality Assurance Auditor

Quality Audits: Quality assessment to identify the service delivery gaps for the specific health areas

QIP Development: Development SMART action plan for the identified gaps per facility

Report preparation: Prepare narrative and quantitative reports for each facility

Examples of Roles and Responsibilities for Independent QA Provider 2

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The article discusses the provision of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including contraceptives, HIV testing services, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), antiretroviral treatment (ART), and mental health. These services contribute to achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and universal health coverage.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

The article emphasizes the importance of ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for women and girls.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The article mentions Triggerise’s collaboration with a pool of Independent Quality Assurance (QA) Providers to ensure quality assurance and quality improvement in the provision of SRH services. This highlights the importance of partnerships between public, private, and civil society entities.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Target 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs.

The article focuses on providing access to quality-assured sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, HIV testing services, PrEP, ART, and mental health. This aligns with the target of ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services.

Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

The article emphasizes the importance of maintaining high levels of quality assurance in the facilities providing AYSRH services. This contributes to achieving universal health coverage and ensuring access to quality essential health-care services.

Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.

The article highlights the need for quality assurance in the provision of sexual and reproductive health services, which is essential for ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.

The article mentions Triggerise’s collaboration with Independent Quality Assurance (QA) Providers to ensure quality assurance in the provision of SRH services. This demonstrates the importance of partnerships between public, private, and civil society entities.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article does not explicitly mention indicators for measuring progress towards the identified targets. However, some relevant indicators can be inferred based on the content:

– Indicator 3.7.1: Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods.

– Indicator 3.8.1: Coverage of essential health services (defined as the average coverage of essential services based on tracer interventions that include reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and service capacity and access).

– Indicator 5.6.1: Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use, and reproductive health care.

– Indicator 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private and civil society partnerships.

These indicators can be used to measure progress towards achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, universal health coverage, and effective partnerships.

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators