Technical Officer (Quality and Safety) - World Health Organization

Ghana has made major strides in improving access to health services. Despite these improvements, Ghana did not meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.

Quality of care is a major factor that could explain this shortfall.

To address the above challenge, Ghana developed a5-year strategy (the Ghana National Healthcare Quality Strategy 2017-2022).

Under the strategy, the Ghana Health Service (GHS)is working to strengthen Universal Health Coverage through strengthening the health system to ensure access and use of, high-quality health services by all Ghanaians.

A core component of the approach is to integrate quality assurance and quality improvement measures as cross-cutting themes to improve service delivery.

The proposed Health System Strengthening in Ghana is in line with WHO global Programme of Work 13 and is one of the priority areas in the TripleBillion initiative by the Director-General.

The health system strengthening function provides the linkage for WHO support to the GHS.

Description Of Duties

• Support the Government of Ghana in its initiatives to:1. Support the health sector (MoH and Ghana Health Service) to create sustainable leadership and governance for quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement at all levels of the healthcare system and strengthen coordination among all health sector agencies as well as the private sector on QoC issues.
• Develop and implement a uniform national policy and guidelines on data reporting and data use by health workers and health sector agencies for the quality of care and to encourage and enable the generation and dissemination of evidence-based research results, tools, and best practices on quality of care.

• Improve patient safety, client satisfaction, and participation of patients and the community in quality governance structures, including implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of QoC mechanisms at all levels.
• Improve the capacity of relevant health workers through training for them to better manage identified priority Health interventions for quality of care improvement.
• Improve supportive supervision and monitoring across all MOH directories, sector agencies, and all service delivery sites in the public, private sub-sectors, and teaching hospitals e.g. through sector-wide reviews.
• Provide adequate support to the country to frame, implement, and monitor the impact of national medicines policies, including monitoring of and advice on the impact of relevant trade agreements and globalization on access to medicines.
• Guide on financing the supply and increasing the affordability of essential medicines in both the public and private sectors 
• Promote Instruments for effective medicine regulation and quality assurance systems to strengthen national medicine regulatory authorities; strengthen and promote laboratory quality assurance systems 
• Promote Instruments for effective medicine regulation and quality assurance systems to strengthen national medicine regulatory authorities; strengthen and promote laboratory quality assurance systems.

Required Qualifications

Education

Essential:

A first university degree in health sciences or health-related fields such as public health, Pharmacy, health policy, planning, and management from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable:

Post-graduate training in public health at MPH level; Post Graduate training in quality management or Pharmacy in health would be an added advantage.

Experience

Essential:

• At least five years relevant work experience in the field of equitable, health people-centered health services planning and management and/or experience working with global health initiatives and other partner agencies.
• Experience in the development and implementation of service quality standards at the national and international levels.
• At least 5 years of practical experience in planning, implementing, monitoring, and supervising Essential Medicines activities at the national or regional, or district level

Desirable:

Experience in the implementation of public health programs with an emphasis on developing and implementing national Policies on Health Technologies and Regulation of Health Products would be an added advantage.

Skills

• Speak and write clearly, adapting communication style and content so they are appropriate to the needs of the intended audience
• Keep others informed of the key and relevant issues through reports, publications, and documentation of best practices
• Remain productive when under pressure Monitor progress against objectives and take corrective actions necessary
• Produce high-quality results Work collaboratively with team members to achieve results
• Develop strategic plans into clearly defined objectives that take account of changing circumstances Identify priorities and define realistic objectives and timelines to achieve them
• Quickly re-allocate resources and reset priorities in response to unexpected events Promote WHO’s mission and programs

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Producing results
• Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.

Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Langues locales.

REMUNERATION

Remuneration comprises an annual base salary starting at GHS 263,299 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position.
• WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules, and Manual.
• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
• For information on WHO’s operations please visit http://www.who.int.
• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to putting the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has zero-tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment).
• All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment, and other types of abusive conduct.
•  To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment, or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: 

Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications indicated above reflects your personal device’s system settings.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

Ghana has made major strides in improving access to health services. Despite these improvements, Ghana did not meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.

Quality of care is a major factor that could explain this shortfall.

To address the above challenge, Ghana developed a 5-year strategy (the Ghana National Healthcare Quality Strategy 2017-2022).

Under the strategy, the Ghana Health Service (GHS)is working to strengthen Universal Health Coverage through strengthening the health system to ensure access and use of, high-quality health services by all Ghanaians.

A core component of the approach is to integrate quality assurance and quality improvement measures as cross-cutting themes to improve service delivery.

The proposed Health System Strengthening in Ghana is in line with WHO global Programme of Work 13 and is one of the priority areas in the TripleBillion initiative by the Director-General. The health system strengthening function provides the linkage for WHO support to the GHS.