HSS Consultant | Karachi, Pakistan | 2024

Overview of Pakistan Building Healthy Families Activity:

Building Healthy Families Activity (BHFA) is a USAID funded five-year project, with Pathfinder International as the lead implementer in Pakistan, aiming to improve population health outcomes in Pakistan through stronger primary health care systems and encouraging uptake and continuation of voluntary FP/MNCH services. Using a market development and health systems strengthening approach, BHFA will support the GoP in Sindh & KP province and the private sector institutions to achieve three results:

1. Increase capacity of the government and private health institutions to lead resilient, responsive FP/MNCH systems.
2. Improve utilization of quality FP/RMNCH products and services; and
3. Empower men and youth to communicate about, demand, and use essential services.

As a member of BHFA consortium, Chemonics is one of the partners, implementing the Health System Strengthening (HSS) component. Our technical support to the government and local organizations aims to improve health system’s preparedness for pandemics and public health emergencies. This involves human resource training to scale up family planning client records in PPHI and DOH, as well as strengthening the regulatory processes of the Healthcare Commission. We facilitate public and private sector providers in self-registering their clinics/hospitals, digitize inspection checklists, and link offices of the Healthcare Commission and internal department processes and operations, all with a specific focus on improving access to FP/MNCH services.

Purpose of TA:

The purpose of this Technical Assistance (TA) initiative is to address critical challenges within the Population Welfare Department (PWD). Given that Electronic Client Records (ECR) are already implemented in all Reproductive Health Service Center (RHSC-A) centers in Sindh, and PWD is in the process of scaling it up to all their facilities, the absence of standardized training sessions for both public and private sectors in ECR implementation have been identified as a hindrance to its effectiveness. In response, a collaborative effort with PPHI is underway to pilot ECR in four districts, with BHFA utilizing the existing master trainers of PWD to provide crucial assistance in training and supporting the rollout to all Service Delivery Points (SDPs). Additionally, Technical Assistance for the LMIS cell is imperative due to insufficient support for data analysis and mobile app development, creating a bottleneck in efficient health data management. Furthermore, the need for mHealth (Monitoring Health) TA arises from the current gap in effectively monitoring health facilities’ performance, with BHFA expressing its readiness to provide assistance through the development of a mobile app.

In summary, to achieve all the aforementioned goals, BHFA will provide Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) for Health System Strengthening (HSS) to fulfill all the specified tasks during its tenure. This TA will assist PWD in increasing Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR), reducing stockouts, and aiding in the procurement and distribution of family planning commodities. Additionally, the same STTA will conduct capacity building for Population Welfare Department (PWD) staff, ensuring their capability to independently handle these tasks in the future.

Scope of work for the HSS Consultant:

1. Review, validate, and maintain large datasets of ECR from various departments e.g., Population Welfare Department (PWD), Department of Health (DOH) and People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI).
2. Assist in capacity building of PWD staff.
3. Improvement of quality services provided at RHSA and FWC.
4. Ensure data accuracy and consistency by ensuring data quality and cleaning processes.
5. Conduct in-depth analysis using statistical methods and data visualization tools.
6. Identify trends, patterns, and anomalies within datasets.
7. Prepare comprehensive reports and dashboards to communicate findings effectively.
8. Present analytical results in a clear and understandable manner.
9. Work closely with cross-functional teams in PWD, DOH and PPHI to understand data requirements.
10. Collaborate with NGOs to define analytical objectives.
11. Manage and optimize databases for efficient data retrieval and analysis.
12. Propose and implement improvements to existing analytical processes.

Deliverables:

1. Support, in collaboration with PPHI, the piloting of Electronic Client Records (ECR) in four districts (BadinA, BadinB, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan) utilizing existing master trainers of PWD. This involves crucial assistance in training and supporting the rollout to all Service Delivery Points (SDPs).
2. Provide Technical Assistance (TA) for the ECR unit/cell, with a focus on data analysis and removal of family planning data duplication.
3. Provide support in developing a mobile app for a health facilities performance checklist.
4. Conduct capacity building for Population Welfare Department (PWD) staff to ensure their independent handling of tasks in the future.
5. Assist in ECR data integration between PPHI and DOH.

Reporting:

The consultant will be reporting to the Director CTL&S PWD based in Karachi and collaborate closely with Sr. Data Systems Advisor based in Islamabad.

Level of Effort: The expected duration of the assignment is nine (09) months with a total LOE (Level of Effort) of 180 days distributed as maximum 20 working days per month.

Required expertise:

The individual must be able to perform each essential duty and responsibility satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the required knowledge, skills, and/or abilities needed to perform the principal duties:

1. BS degree in Information Technology / Computer Sciences or related discipline required.
2. Minimum of three (3) years of experience in relevant field
3. Experience with health/development sector will be preferred.
4. Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
5. Fluency in English required.
6. Experience with FP indicators in Management Information System (MIS) is preferred.
7. Data visualization proficiency (using tools like Excel, Power BI, etc.)
8. Excellent communication skills to convey complex findings to non-technical stakeholders.
9. Attention to detail and accuracy in data interpretation.

Note: Scope of work can be modified as per the advice by the donor.