District Clinical Mentor

BACKGROUND

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC delivers education programs in 22 conflict-affected or post-conflict countries around the world.

Present in Sierra Leone since 1999, IRC supports the Sierra Leonean institutions – government, civil society, community-based organizations and private sector – to provide improved social services.  The IRC does this through programs and partnerships designed to improve the life of women, youth and children by implementing Health, Education, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment programming. 

SCOPE OF WORK

IRC, along with its Consortium partners has bid for a funding opportunity from DFID – Saving Lives (Phase II) as the lead for the NGO consortium. The Saving Lives programme seeks to support the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) to save women’s and children’s lives by improving the quality, availability and accessibility of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services. This will be achieved by increasing the utilization of quality RMNCAH services through a multifaceted approach that seeks to strengthen quality, expand access, and build the demand for RMNCAH services in Sierra Leone. The programme duration is April 2021 – March 2022.

The IRC is recruiting for one (1) District Clinical Mentor (DCM) for the Saving Lives programme in Sierra Leone based in Kenema. The DCMs are the most crucial link in the programme, providing direct clinical mentorship to facility and hospital staff in the respective districts. The Saving Lives DCM will work under the oversight of the District Delivery Senior Manager in the respective districts.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Provide intensive direct clinical mentorship and on-the-job training to staff at the targeted Community Health Centres (CHCs) through the programme period on (in line with the national policies/guidance):

-Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC)

-Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI)

-Emergency Triage Assessment & Treatment (ETAT)

-Values clarification and attitudes transformation (VCAT) for family planning and;

-Adolescent Youth Friendly Services (AYFS)

• Provide direct clinic mentorship and on-the-job training for hospital staff^[1] on (in line with the national policies/guidance):

-EmONC

-IMNCI

-VCAT

-AYFS

• Provide support to troubleshoot for their respective mentees on the mentorship topics
• Provide feedback loop to the communities about improvement of healthcare workers’ competencies in collaboration with Community Based Mobilisers of the NGO Consortium partner and the Community Health Workers in country
• Support the DHMT and facility staff on meaningful supportive supervision under the guidance from the District Delivery Senior Manager
• Carry out regular joint outreach visits (monthly) to Child Health Posts and Maternal Child Health Posts with the CHC-in charge
• Contribute to the monthly PHU-in charges meetings and feedback perspectives and analysis of health data from facilities
• Provide inputs/suggestions from field to the District Delivery Senior Manager on potential ideas for use of flexible funding and/or innovation fund available for the district
• Support and contribute to the baseline assessment for the programme

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

External: Kenema, Kono & Kailahun DHMT, other health NGOs CBOs and Community Personnel

Internal: All departments within IRC in Kailahun, Kono, Kenema and Freetown as appropriate, Health Program Managers, Senior Health Coordinator, Administration and Supply Chain