Consultant – Certification Unit (Quality & Patient Safety Division)

Terms of Reference

Consultant – Certification Unit (Quality & Patient Safety Division)

National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) is a technical support institution under the National Health Mission (NHM), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. NHSRC works closely with the MoHFW and the States for Health Systems strengthening and supporting implementation of other interventions under the NHM. Work at the NHSRC is organised around seven divisions, namely – Community Processes & Comprehensive Primary Care, Healthcare Financing, Healthcare Technology, Human Resources for Health, Knowledge Management Division, Public Health Administration and Quality & Patient Safety.

If you have a commitment to health equity and excellence, here is a unique chance to work with a team committed to shaping the public health landscape in India. The position offers you to work with a transdisciplinary team, you can discover, adapt, co- create, and disseminate solutions to multiple challenges related to service delivery systems, universal primary health care, human resources for health, community processes, health financing, Quality of care, public health planning and health promotion. This is an opportunity to support health systems strengthening at scale, learn from district and sub district implementation, undertake knowledge translation, and enable realization of the vision of universal health coverage.

For improving Quality of care of services, delivered at the public health facilities, National Quality Assurance Standards were developed under the National Health Mission. In the year 2013, QA Operational Guidelines and Quality Standards for District Hospitals were launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. This was followed by development and launch of Quality Standards for Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), followed by Quality Standards for Urban PHCs in the subsequent years. There is an explicit system of measurement of extent of compliance against each of the National Quality Assurance Standard (NQAS). Each Quality standard has measurable elements and checkpoints.

Quality and Patient Safety Division (QPS), NHSRC performs task of the secretariat on behalf of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in implementation of National Quality Assurance Standards at public health facilities in States/ UTs. Under this mandate, QPS division performs two major roles first being setting the standards for different level of health facilities as per need and supporting the states in its implementation through capacity building and handholding; and second function is of verification of attainment of standards at the health facilities through a robust system of Quality certification.

An independent certification unit has been developed under NHSRC for managing Quality Assessments of public health facilities under NQAS. Managing Quality Assessment and Certification at national level offers a unique challenge for an incumbent to innovate, improvise and strengthen the existing system. The task performed at the certification unit are dynamic in nature and expects a full-time commitment from their consultants. Tasks undertaken at Certification Unit NHSRC, harness the skills of planning, Liaoning, teamwork, timeliness, analytical, promptness in the incumbent.

For supporting above mentioned tasks, NHSRC intends to induct a Consultant in the Certification Unit, QPS Division. The incumbent is expected to have good clinical background and excellent writing skills.

The Position reports to Advisor- Quality & Patient Safety and is on Contractual basis.

The position requires strong moral and ethical code of conduct with essence of integrity, confidentiality while undertaking the responsibility.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Expected roles of the incumbent are summarised below –

1. Support in conduct of the national level assessments in the allocated states from receipt of application till result declaration.
2. To monitor all certification related activities and ensure completion of activities in a timebound manner.
3. Correspondence of final reports to MOHFW for final decision making on Quality Certification Status of assessed facilities.
4. Manage the data generated for preparation of fact sheets/ data sets for analysis and putting up for national level review.
5. Coordination for National level External Assessors Training.
6. Management of pool of Empanelled External Assessors.
7. Preparation of the certification guidelines, short notes, resource material for certification activities.
8. Any other responsibility as allocated by Advisor QPS.

Qualification & Experience:

For achieving above-mentioned deliverables, the applicant is expected to possess following qualifications & experience –

Essential Qualification –

• Possess at least two years’ full-time Post graduate degree from a reputed institute:
• Masters in Hospital Administration/
• Master’s in Public Health/
• Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management
• At least two year’s work experience of managing NQAS certification at the State or National level
• Knowledge of MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook etc.)

Note-

• Only shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview.
• The candidates may be subjected to written test and presentation to judge their writing skills and language proficiency.

Age Limit: Up to 40 Years (as on the date of receiving the application)

Work Location: New Delhi; Opportunity to gain hands on experience of public health canvas of states and districts.

Travel to states and districts will be involved.

Remuneration Range: Between Rs. 60,000/- to Rs. 1,20,000/- (*Fee offered within the band will be commensurate with qualification and experience.)

Other Benefits: In addition to the renumeration mentioned above, Consultants of NHSRC are entitled to Free Accidental insurance, Subsidized Medical insurance (, Mobile bills reimbursement, Laptop reimbursement (As per NHSRC Policy), 30 days Consolidated leave, fully paid Maternity leave (For Female Consultants) as per Government of India policy, performance linked increments, TA/ DA and per diem for on-duty visits.

Duration of Contract: Contract till 31st March 2025 with further extensions of similar duration (subject to satisfactory performance)

Candidates selected in this interview could be considered for other vacant positions at NHSRC requiring similar skill sets and at appropriate level.

How to apply: Candidates are requested to fill the online application correctly which is available on the NHSRC website (http://nhsrcindia.org). Applications will be accepted in the prescribed online application format only. Last date for receiving applications is 10th October 2023.

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