Technical Consultant – Diabetic Foot Care – Kiribati

To support delivery of a 3-year program funded through the Australian Government’s Kiribati Australia Health Sector Program (KAHSP II), Interplast is looking for a consultant to provide technical input and training delivery for a diabetic foot care program in partnership with the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

The Keep Moving – Strengthening Diabetic Foot Disease Services in Kiribati project will be delivered across 3 years, including delivery of Interplast’s ‘Keep Moving’ training package 1 to a multi-disciplinary (MDT) team from across Kiribati. The training package will include twice-yearly in-country workshops, train-the-trainer (ToT) components to build a local faculty, and establishment and mentoring of a local multidisciplinary leadership team who will take on local leadership of this training.

The project will also support the local leadership team to develop and update service protocols, tools, and processes for effective delivery of diabetic foot disease services in Kiribati. This will include working with the Government of Kiribati (GoK), through the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) and other local key stakeholders to develop and launch Kiribati’s first national diabetic foot disease strategy and provide ongoing mentoring and support for local personnel to improve the assessment, identification, and treatment of diabetic foot wounds, to reduce lower limb amputations, preventable disability and death in Kiribati.

Success for the overall Keep Moving – Strengthening Diabetic Foot Disease Services in Kiribati Project will include:

• 30 i-Kiribati health care professionals representing a range of clinical areas are trained in diabetic foot disease screening, identification, assessment, treatment to prevent amputation and rehabilitation pre and post limb amputation.
• A cohort of 6 of these professionals are provided with further training and mentoring (ToT) to become the local faculty to continue delivering this training to other personnel. • A locally driven MDT leadership team is established and supported to lead the development and delivery of diabetic foot disease services in Kiribati.
• The Tungaru Central Hospital has a functioning and effective diabetic foot clinic, including required equipment and supplies (sourced through national procurement systems), required trained personnel and appropriate space, services guided by a diabetic foot disease service protocol and associated service forms, the ability to collect, analyse and manage data on people receiving diabetic foot disease services, and the ability to provide supported outreach services to the outer islands. This includes an improvement in referrals to and from the DFD Clinic to and from other NCD health professionals and clinics, to address the risk of treatment being done in isolation from the broader health system – reinforcing a one system approach.
• The MHMS has a range of public health material that can be used to promote prevention of diabetic foot disease and access to diabetic foot disease services.
• The outer islands of Kiribati with substantial population base have a locally based diabetic foot care trained nurse, with plans in place to train and support a nurse specialising in delivery of diabetic foot disease services in all population centres.
• Clinicians and clinical leadership involved in the prevention, screening and care of diabetic retinopathy and other diabetes-related complications will be engaged in training opportunities and in broader multi-disciplinary team discussions where possible, to reduce the risk of siloing of screening and treatment. This will include particular focus on the importance of cross-screening and referral for diabetes-related complications, and building of referral pathways where needed, as well as providing some basic training for those involved in DFD screening and care of diabetic retinopathy, and for those in screening and care of diabetic retinopathy in the screening and care of DFD.

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical oversight in the development and delivery of the Keep Moving training package to 30 health professionals, whilst supporting a cohort of six trainers (ToT) who are able to implement the training package locally.

Other duties include:

• Contribute to the development of a five-year National Diabetic Foot Care Strategic Plan for Kiribati
• Contribute to the set up and strengthening of the Tungaru Central Hospital diabetic foot clinic, including required equipment and supplies (sourced through national procurement systems), required trained personnel and appropriate space, services guided by a diabetic foot disease service protocol and associated service forms, the ability to collect, analyse and manage data on people receiving diabetic foot disease services, and the ability to provide supported outreach services to the outer islands.
• The Consultant is responsible for the quality of their work and agrees to make changes requested by Interplast without additional charge (within the agreed number of days).
• The Consultant agrees to provide the required documentation to Interplast to undertake the required due-diligence checks for this engagement – including a national criminal history check and counter terrorism checks.

The successful applicant would be a podiatrist with high-risk clinical experience and experience teaching and working in low-resource settings is required for this assignment. Expertise and experience in strategic planning for health organizations is also considered highly beneficial.

The full details of the position can be found here:

Employment Opportunities Australia tendersglobal.net Interplast