EXCELLENCE IN PEOPLE
It is a woman’s right to receive good health care and it is our job to provide it.
about the course through outreach work undertaken by an RCOG volunteer, Dr Enid Michael, who was generously funded by the Laura Case Trust and who was in post at Kitovu over the summer. Enid worked with a Ugandan public health specialist to collect data from the health centres and their staff to understand their needs and demonstrate the value of attending courses to help address these issues.
The course was officially opened by Dr Opio Martin, Medical Director of Kitovu, and Dr Maura Lynch. Both reinforced the huge importance of the role of health workers and the great potential they have to save women’s lives. It was a message that struck a chord with the delegates, with one midwife commenting during the course: “It is a woman’s right to receive good health care and it is our job to provide it.” The faculty delivered lectures, hands-on
workshop sessions with equipment and obstetric models, and discussion sessions, and even simulated an emergency to help everyone put what they had learned into practice. While there was a lot of enthusiasm for the teaching – particularly on use of the partograph and dealing with postpartum haemorrhage, sepsis and neonatal resuscitation – it became clear to the faculty that there are many barriers preventing the delivery of high-quality care outside the realm of training alone. Many centres lack equipment or senior
staffing, and the delay in health-seeking behaviour by women and their families impacts greatly on the safe delivery of the baby. It was also made clear that referral issues such as poor communication and lack of history taking were serious problems. Therefore, these issues were discussed in sessions on respectful care and ways to strengthen communication skills between
O&G November 2015
Dr Maura Lynch (left), Director of Fistula at Kitovu, Dr Helen Allott (centre), Clinical Lead for Excellence in: Obstetric Skills project and Sister Bernadette (right), Uganda Project Manager for the Excellence project
health workers and their patients in written, verbal and non-verbal forms.
Support for professional development While the training carries on over the next 18 months, we are supporting the delegates with their professional development through our monitoring and evaluation of the project. We are encouraging self-reflective practice through ‘action plans’ to enable health workers to develop the skills needed to develop to succeed in delivering quality health care to women. We are also developing the skills of local Ugandan teachers who will become the faculty for the Excellence course. One registered nurse called Proscovia attended the first course and then went on to join the faculty during week two, giving lectures and running workshops for the second group of delegates. She explained that while staff are very stretched at her health facility, a senior colleague gave her blessing for Proscovia to return and train as an Excellence course teacher: “She said it would be beautiful if I was to attend and then I could come back and teach the rest of them to better care for mothers.” As we continue to develop the project,
we welcome those interested in being part of the faculty delivering the training to get in touch with our global health team at
globalhealthinfo@rcog.org.uk
Elizabeth Rafii- Tabar
Elizabeth is the Global Health Projects Manager at the RCOG. She is currently working
alongside Clinical Lead, Dr Helen Allott, to deliver the Excellence in: Obstetric Skills project, funded by UK Aid through the THET Health Partnerships Scheme.
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