UN Medical Officer

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. 

It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing a border with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. Ghana covers an area of 239,567 km² (92,497 sq mi), spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With over 32 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa.

The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi.

The United Nation in Ghana has 41 entities (including International Financial Institutions) operating in-country comprising 24 entities who have signed the UNSDCF and a 17 non-UNSDCF entities operating in Ghana. 

The UN Clinic in Accra is part of the UN Common Services of the UN Country Team in Ghana and is administered by UNDP Ghana. The clinic operates under the overall coordination of the UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana and is managed by the UN Health Manager for Ghana.  The objective of the UN Clinic is to provide primary clinical care and occupational health services to all locally and internationally recruited personnel of the UN Common System and their recognized dependents. Dedicated, effective primary health, occupational health and emergency medical services may mitigate negative outcomes of trauma, injuries and health complications providing better chances for saving lives as well as for faster and better recovery. 

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana (for administrative matters), and the Deputy Director of the Division of Healthcare Management Occupational Safety and Health- DHMOSH (for technical matters) the incumbent will fulfill the duties UN Clinic Doctor, in Ghana. 

• Oversees the delivery of high-quality clinical and occupational health services in the UN workplace, including employment clearances, travel medicine services and travel clearances.
• Oversees the provision of workplace clinical services including first aid and emergency care, access to UN programmes such as PEP kits, and effective referral to local healthcare services.
• Oversees clinical practice in relation to in-person occupational health clinical reviews and examinations.
• Develops and oversees the delivery of occupational health and safety programs including workplace and home ergonomics programs and workplace safety and health risk assessments.
• Oversees and provides specialist guidance on workplace (reasonable) accommodation requests with a medical component in line with UN policies.
• Oversees the delivery of effective workplace or general health promotion programs.
• Develops, exercises, and provides a local emergency response / mass casualty capability integrated with local security plans.
• Advises the UN Resident Coordinator as well as other UN Clinic Doctor Management forums (UNCT, SMT, OMT) on other aspects of health including public health matters relevant to the duty station, through liaison with WHO Ghana and/or local authorities.
• Ensures quality in services provided by the UN Clinic including the implementation of quality control mechanisms and procedures, the use of published UN clinical guidelines, and adherence to patient safety and adverse event reporting requirements.

Medical Administration

• Oversees the provision of recommendations or determinations related to medical entitlements.
• Oversees the completion of sick leave, including where required liaison with individual staff members and their healthcare providers to ensure effective sick leave management.
• Oversees the development and implementation of return-to-work programs.
• Monitors sick leave usage in conjunction with human resources staff and prepares and finalizes disability summaries and reports for the Medical Director and UNJSPF
• Oversees medical evacuation and repatriation services where required.
• Oversees the provision of advisory services to the NY HQ based office of the Advisory Board Compensation Claims (ABCC).
• Undertakes mediation and informal dispute resolution related to medical entitlements, and where required represents the medical service in formal dispute resolution bodies such as medical boards or the UN Dispute Tribunal.

Supervisory

• Manages the work and results of all staff working in the medical service (UN Clinic), including where appropriate occupational safety staff or remote staff supervised by the medical service.
• Ensures medical confidentiality and release of medical records/information is in accordance with UN policies and requirements.
• Manages access to the EarthMed medical record system.
• Undertakes the planning and preparation of budgets and prepares reports on budget performance and results.
• Ensures the development, generation and reporting of relevant key performance indicators documenting health support performance including responses to audit requests on health performance.
• Ensures timely recruiting and training of all new staff, and effective performance management.
• Ensures effective continuous professional development of staff and their career management.
• Ensures compliance of UN healthcare facilities with UN Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety (HQPS) standards
• Ensures appropriate training programs are implemented to maintain and develop the medical capabilities (e.g., HQPS standards, Root Cause Analyses trainings etc.).
• Manages the interface between the medical unit and staff counsellors, UN Clinic Doctor management of the UN in Ghana, all specialized agencies, military physicians, physicians and representatives of laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, medical associations, and societies.
• Supervises and coordinates medical services in the UN in Ghana. This includes management of medical support activities in the Mission, as outlined in the Medical Support Manual, for example, preparation and implementation of mass casualty plans, medical evacuation plans and procedures, and relationship with any external healthcare providers.
• Establishes and implements appropriate training programs in order to maintain and develop medical capabilities (e.g. health education, HIV/AIDS prevention, first aid and CPR).

Advisory, liaison and representation

• Undertakes regular coordination with the Office of the Director, DHMOSH UNHQ, contributes to the development of UN healthcare policy, and ensures alignment of policy and practice in UN health care services.
• Represents the medical service at events and meetings with other UN entities and in national and international fora.
• Oversees workplace health and medical service communication products, and liaison/outreach with external actors.
• Briefs and advises UN Clinic Doctor management on all healthcare matters relevant to the workplace, including health policies, business continuity, enterprise risk management, and representation at crisis response and related bodies.
• Represents the medical service on health and medical entitlements matters before the UN judicial system and UN investigative bodies.
• Ensures effective occupational health representation at the local occupational health and safety committee.
• Acts as Advisor for the UN in Ghana on medical matters.

Achieve Results-LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact

Think Innovation-LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously-LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility-LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination-LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner-LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion-LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People Management 

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site. 

Cross Functional & Technical Competencies

• Business Direction and Strategy-System Thinking: 

Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

• Business Management-Portfolio Management: 

Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programs and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment

• 2030 Agenda: People-Health: 

Health Emergency

• 2030 Agenda: People-Health: 

Procurement services of health products

• 2030 Agenda: People-Health: 

Surge capacity and health infrastructure incl. deployment of digital solutions

• Business Management-Communication:

 Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
Abiliy to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

• Business Management-Customer Satisfaction/Client Management: 

Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers’ needs.
Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy.  
Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests.
Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.