Palladium- Request For Proposals (RFP) For The Provision Of New Technical Assistance On Management For Severe Cases Of Malaria, Pneumonia, And Medically Complicated Acute Malnutrition In Bauchi, Kebbi And Sokoto, Ebonyi States And The Federal Capital Territory

DEADLINE: 13TH JANUARY, 2023
PALLADIUM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR THE PROVISION OF NEW TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON MANAGEMENT FOR SEVERE CASES OF MALARIA, PNEUMONIA, AND MEDICALLY COMPLICATED ACUTE MALNUTRITION IN BAUCHI, KEBBI AND SOKOTO, EBONYI STATES AND THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY

Title: Provision of New technical Assistance on Management for Severe Cases of Malaria, Pneumonia, and Medically Complicated Acute Malnutrition in Bauchi, Kebbi and Sokoto, Ebonyi States and the Federal Capital Territory (Severe Malaria, Respiratory Illness and Malnutrition in 61 General Hospitals across four states and the FCT: Bauchi (12), Kebbi (11), Sokoto (12), Ebonyi (14), FCT (12).
Subject RFP #:
1. TO3/217727/Consultancy/Sub-Contract- 2023-002-Bauchi state activities
2. TO4/217727/Consultancy/Sub-Contract- 2023-002- Kebbi state activities
3. TO5/217727/Consultancy/Sub-Contract- 2023-002- Sokoto state activities
4. TO6/217727/Consultancy/Sub-Contract- 2023-002- Ebonyi state activities
5. TO7/217727/Consultancy/Sub-Contract- 2023-002-FCT level activities

The Integrated Health Program is a USAID funded 5-year project with the goal to contribute to reductions in child and maternal morbidity and mortality and to increase the capacity of health systems (public and private) to sustainably support quality primary health care (PHC) services for reproductive health/family planning, maternal, new-born, and child health, nutrition, and malaria (RMNCH+NM). With government, community, and private sector partners, IHP strives to achieve three objectives: (1) strengthen health systems supporting PHC services, (2) improve access to PHC services, and (3) increase quality of PHC services. Palladium invites applications from suitably qualified Firms as subcontractors to provide technical support to Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto, Ebonyi state governments and the FCT.

Nigeria needs reliable referral hospitals at the secondary level to handle complex and severe cases of pneumonia, malaria and malnutrition which cannot be handled at the primary healthcare level. IHP is therefore expanding its scope of high-impact curative child survival interventions that target major causes of child deaths to secondary health facilities to reach one secondary hospital per local government area to address severe pneumonia and malaria and malnutrition.

This will complement ongoing USAID-funded efforts on preventive measures at the PHCs such as promotion of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices and Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI). The work will also complement and build on any oxygen support therapy equipment and nutrition commodities and clinical trainings offered by UNICEF and by MSF. Childhood malnutrition is further compounded by challenges to a sustainable supply of Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) hampering the continuity of care and quality of services. Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has included RUTF and other nutrition commodities in the list of essential medicines allowing it to be procured and made available at all health facilities The consultancy will also focus on stabilization center treatment for severely malnourished children in Bauchi and Sokoto, so that 1 general hospital per LGHA each in Bauchi and Sokoto can provide treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition using RUTF while receiving referrals from the PHC centers/OTP CMAM sites, improve counter referral practices, referring back recovered children to OTP sites for follow up care after the malnourished child is discharged from the secondary level facility. In collaboration and consultation with IHP’s State Offices and targeted state governments, the subcontractor will undertake the following activities:

Objective
IHP seeks to subcontract a General Hospital- Child Health Sub-Contractor to hire, manage and oversee a team of paediatric trainers to conduct capacity building and clinical mentoring of providers (doctors, nurses, and midwives) on management of severe cases of malaria, pneumonia, and medically complicated severe malnutrition in selected General Hospitals from Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto, Ebonyi, and FCT. This phase of intervention will build on lessons learned from the previous phase, leveraging on other implementing partners, and state governments to be more involved and committed to addressing some of the gaps noted during phase one implementation, including inadequate human resources, essential commodities, and basic equipment. This phase will cover secondary health facilities as follows: Bauchi (12), Kebbi (11), Sokoto (12), Ebonyi (14) and FCT (12). To achieve these, the Subcontractor will carry out the following activities:

• Engage and lead a team of qualified Pediatric Training Consultants to implement the intervention in the states and FCT while managing their day-to-day activities and reporting. There will be 5 pediatric consultants each in Bauchi, Sokoto and Ebonyi while four consultants each are needed for Kebbi and FCT.
• As an entry point to understanding facility readiness for the training, the subcontractor will conduct a physical rapid health facility (RHF) needs assessment to establish and confirm training needs. The physical visit will give the opportunity for the consultants to familiarize themselves with the HFs route/terrain, identify HWs qualified for training, training venue and needs and establish rapport with the facility and Health Workers-HWs and agree on possible date(s) of training, among other. The assessment will be conducted using the facility assessment tool developed by IHP using the ODK platform. The outcome of RHF assessment results will also be used to establish the continuity of mentoring and other activities to ensure post-training implementation of the training contents
• In consultation with IHP State Team (including the Leadership and Governance Advisor and HRH and Capacity Building Advisor), conduct advocacy to the SMOH/FCDB, Hospital Management Board, and State Malaria Elimination Program to introduce the project and its scope. Also, secure a date for the conduct of one-day consultative forum with all stakeholders to: Present the lessons leamt from phase one implementation and secure government commitment to addressing identified gaps.
• Present the outcome of rapid health facility (RHF) conducted during phase one needs assessment and agree on modalities for filling the human resource gap, ensuring essential commodities are included in facility’s DRF and other issues identified during the phase one assessment.
• Present findings from phase two RHF needs assessment, secure government commitment to addressing identified gaps and agree on training and supervision modalities.
• Conduct a 7-day training of trainers/refresher for the paediatric consultants, SMOH/HMB, and agencies on management of severe cases of pneumonia, malaria, and severe acute malnutrition (with medical complications) using IHP adapted national and WHO training manuals, and job aids. The training will also include clinical/practical demonstrations and discussions on how to assess and report skills acquisition. The subcontractor will also ensure that consultants understand and agree on IHP report writing standards and timely milestones submission to the subcontractor. Certified consultants will achieve 85% of post-test scores to be qualified for deployment to train in a facility.
• Ensure that a mentoring system is implemented in all the new trained facilities. It is expected that the state health authorities will buy in such mentoring system and provide the needed resources so that the mentoring is institutionalized and continues after the consultancy ends. The subcontractor is encouraged to retain successful trainers from FY22 who are available and willing to continue participating in the program.
• The subcontractor will lead the whole training and mentoring process in conjunction with SMOH, Hospital Management Board and IHP. This will include: a.) implementation of a physical needs assessment in selected secondary facilities to identify training needs; b) socialization of RHF assessment findings with health authorities and securing their commitment; c) conduction of competency-based training (both TOT and stepdown at facility levels) including knowledge and skills evaluation; d) development of tailored mentoring plans based on skills that trainees need to improve; e) institutionalizing of mentoring; and f) institutionalizing of quality improvement plans so that quality of care is measured during the training and continues being measured after the consultancy/training end; and g) trainees must submit the original daily attendance sheets and upload training data into the IHP training tracker ODK platform (h) evidence of mentoring with the submission of a mentoring report and follow up action plan for each visit.
• The subcontractor will also be responsible for providing quality oversight and coordinating all paediatric trainers to be engaged. This will be done in collaboration with IHP staff in the Abuja and the Headquarters offices in Washington DC. The subcontractor will liaise with the Hospital Management Board and IHP in advance of the trainings to ensure the facilities are prepared to receive the training, provide follow-up mentoring and supervision of the secondary care in collaboration with the Hospital Management Board and staff during and after the training.
• The sub-contractor will also be responsible for recruiting, hiring and paying out trainers in accordance with IHP consultant salary scales. Qualified trainers working on similar scopes for IHP should be given preference for hiring.
• The sub-contractor will also be responsible for having periodic (e.g. biweekly during program inception, then monthly to quarterly as the program becomes fully operational) with the State technical monitors, Abuja and HQ staff
• This RFP is open to Nigeria-registered Health Management, training and Consulting Firms who are technically capable of handling these tasks. This will be a subcontract that pays for pre-defined milestones and deliverables.

Instructions for submitting the Proposal:

1. Submit a cover letter indicating interest in applying for a Contract to provide the required services in and or all the states. Please indicate that states.
2. Submit a proposal, detailing the management approach, technical approach, detailed work/implementation plan, key/non- key personnel among others.
3. Submit a detailed budget.
4. Provide evidence of similar activities in support of this scope of work in Nigeria
   

Full application package can be downloaded from this link including the detail RFP: https://bit.ly/3Wp2b0o Contracts Team Contact Details:

Issuance of this RFP does not constitute a Contract commitment, nor does it commit Palladium to pay for costs incurred in
the preparation and submission.

Closing date of Submission: January 13, 2023-11.30pm (WAT)