Agnès Echterbille

First impressions of Agnès, newly arrived in Goma

“Coordinating continuing clinical training and supporting the rehabilitation of the North Kivu Provincial Hospital” is the mission I have been given within the PADISS project. I joined the fantastic ULB-Coopération team in Goma on January 4, 2018, and it is with some emotion that I share with you my first steps and experiences in this ambitious project.

Where to start? This question haunted me on my first morning in the maternity ward of the provincial hospital… This hospital is set to become a referral center and training ground for healthcare professionals in North Kivu Province. The aim is therefore to strengthen the teams’ capacities and encourage them to adhere to “best practices” in order to provide everyone with safe, high-quality care and enable the provincial hospital to fulfill its role efficiently.

After discussions with the midwife in charge of the maternity ward, the midwives on the team, the head physician of the gynecology and obstetrics department, the hospital’s director of nursing, and the hospital’s chief medical officer, we decided to start weekly multidisciplinary seminars. I propose to follow the journey of the patient who enters the maternity ward. What happens to her? What can be improved? What attitudes should we question?

Interesting discussions are beginning, on the patient’s right to know the identity and role of the person treating them, and respect for their privacy. Questions follow one after another: How can we put patients at ease? How can we ensure identity vigilance? How can we organize the premises to best respect privacy and hygiene? Focus groups are formed, made up of doctors and nurses.

Each week, we commit to two or three resolutions for the week. For example, no more than three professionals in the delivery room, disinfection with hydroalcoholic solution between each patient during rounds… These resolutions are written on a board in the on-call room and during the seminar, we review their implementation. This method boosts the team’s energy… Caregivers are re-motivated, the team gets “back on track” and takes charge of its own development!

Alongside this work with the maternity team, I had the opportunity to work on the good governance support we offer to the hospital. Together with the administration (DPS – Provincial Health Division), we are setting up a “quality and safety of care” steering committee, following the workshop in October 2017. All these cross-functional and vertical approaches will help refine the guidelines for the continuing clinical training center, which should be up and running in a few months. In a political and social context that is far from simple in North Kivu, PADISS is helping to guarantee the right to quality care accessible to all in the province. It’s an ambitious and exciting project… and I feel good about it!