National Mini Competition - Invitation to Tender

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Call for Expression of Interest

The World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan is seeking expressions of interest from reputed firms Institutional Agreement for Performance of Work, 3rd Party Audit Nursing College/Institutions (Public & Private) to Ascertain Quality of Education /Standards as per Best Int’l Practices in Pakistan.

Interested firms may send the technical and financial proposals in separate sealed envelopes at the following address with the title of assignment on the envelope by COB 31-Jul-2024.

Address: c/o Health Systems Development Unit (Room No. 4), WHO Country Office Pakistan, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad-Pakistan.

Terms of References

For

3rd Party Assessment of Nursing College/Institutions (Public & Private) to Ascertain Quality of Education /Standards as per Best International Practices in Pakistan

This APW is requested by:

Unit: WCO Pakistan

Department: HSD

1. Purpose:

Conduct a comprehensive and independent audit of nursing colleges and institutions in Pakistan, to evaluate the quality of education and accreditation standards, benchmarked against international best practices, to ensure excellence in nursing education and to inform policy development and regulatory framework

2. Introduction and Background:

• Pakistan is highly committed to achieving the Universal health Coverage 2030. Health systems across the world is confronting several challenges, and governments are struggling to search for cost-effective options for the enhancement of the capacity of their country health sectors. Pakistan is among the countries facing an extreme shortage of trained and qualified nursing professionals, urban-rural distribution disparities, inefficient skill mix, poor quality training, education that are not attuned to the needs of the population, minimal career progression opportunities, resource constraints. The reasons for a shortage of nursing personnel in Pakistan are complex the major causes include but not limited to cultural norms, women education, employment opportunities, gender imbalance, lack of faculty, required infrastructure and teaching aids.
• Pakistan is the largest country with a population of more than 252 million & facing a double burden of disease (BoD), the burden is higher in the poor, and many of these conditions can be controlled at relatively low-cost interventions and best practices through primary and secondary care levels. Pakistan has one of the lowest Human Resource doctors, dentists, nurses and paramedics to population ratios in the EMR with (1.83 physicians, nurses, midwives per 1000 population as compared to threshold of 4.5, in 2022). and most critical factor in provision of quality preventive, promotive and curative services. Although there is an overall shortage of health workforce This shortage in health workforce is more pronounced in nurses and midwives with a skill mix imbalance of more physicians than nurses.
• Pakistan's target is to produce 900,000 nurses by 2030. The current annual production is around 19,655 while it needs to be increased to 70,000 per year. However, Pakistan at current rate, by 2030 will only be able to reach 298,529 nurses, assuming no attrition, no drop out and no migration. Training 10,000 more Nurses in BSc Nursing Program is needed to meet the target for which additional faculty having Masters and PhD degree, infrastructure, labs and books are required.
• The National Health Vision 2016-2025 and the HRH Vision 2018-2030 provided strategic directions and a road map for nursing and midwifery institutes to improve performance in key areas. Pakistan Nursing council has taken the step to uplift the profile of nursing and shifted to a baccalaureate degree education in nursing. This path is being implemented at the national level. Accordingly, since 2020 in Pakistan Nursing Counsel started enrolment in nursing through baccalaureate. This transformation brings many challenges includingpoor governance and organizational structures, weak leadership and management practices, incapable information system to provide sound evidence for decision-making in training, service development, education, regulation, and policy development. This is accompanied by a professional education system which, apart from a few exceptions, is of the limited capacity of the institutions, poor quality with little capability to graduate competent nurses and midwives. Third party audit of nursing colleges/institutions (public & private) require institutional & faculty capacity development needs to produce quality of nursing health workforce.
• Additionally, in line with WHO EMR RD’s flagship initiative for investing in a resilient health workforce; training and retaining enough health workforce to meet the needs of the country.
• Pakistan has initiated many steps to address the shortage issue and to ensure quality. These include enhancement of seats, establishment of Colleges of Nursing (BSN) with all recognized Medical Colleges, introduction of evening shift in phased manner and development of PC-1 for supporting institutions for upgradation of nursing schools to colleges are in pipeline.
• Nursing health workforce is the backbone of healthcare systems and are critical element in attaining Pakistan’s health goals. The cadre plays a vital role in patient care in different situations, and it involves education in the context of cure from disease and the promotion of health care standards. Pakistan has initiated many steps to address the shortage issue and to ensure quality. These include enhancement of seats, establishment of Colleges of Nursing (BSN) with all recognized Medical Colleges, introduction of evening shift in a phased manner and development of PC-1 for supporting institutions for the upgradation of nursing schools to colleges are in the pipeline.
• The Prime Minister of Pakistan held a meeting on 11th June 2024. The honorable Prime Minister has advised that a third-party audit of the nursing institutes both in the public and private sectors shall be conducted to ascertain the quality of education/standards as per best practices over next 3 months.
• An assessment of individual’s needs, and gaps will provide a road map of capacity-building in all domains i.e. institution’s capacity building, teaching assessment, curriculum support, organisational leadership, and mentoring. It is the constellation of paths to all activities that enhances the knowledge and skills of faculty members. The 3rd party evaluation will help to ensure that the educational reforms and initiatives are worthy and will be implemented properly professional organisations and experts advocate greater awareness and acquisition of knowledge in teaching and learning through a comprehensive study. Gap analysis is the first and the utmost important driving force to be addressed. It is essential for better planning and more efficient resource allocation and strengthening the quality of education in Pakistan.

Objectives:

Methodology:

The proposed methodology is for ensuring accountability and transparency in the 3rd Party Audit of Nursing Colleges/Institutions in Pakistan may include:

• The institute/ firm will conduct qualitative surveys/IDIs from relevant Senior leadership of MoNHSRC, Provincial DOHs, HEC and PNC based on the tool provided (Tool-1).
• The institute/ firm will conduct on-site visits to all nursing institutes provided by the MoNHSRC (Attached) for data collection using the tool (Tool-2).
• The institute/ firm will analyze data and prepare a report under the guidance of the government and the WHO.

Scope of Assessment:

• The scope of assessment encompasses a comprehensive evaluation to ascertain the quality of education and standards in accordance with best international practices. It will assess the institution\'s governance, leadership, and management; curriculum design and delivery; faculty qualifications and development; student admissions, support services, and outcomes; research and scholarship; infrastructure, resources, and facilities; and community engagement and partnerships. The assessment will also evaluate the institution\'s compliance with relevant regulations, accreditation standards, and international benchmarks. The findings and recommendations from this audit will aim to improve the overall quality of nursing education in Pakistan, enhance the employability of graduates, and ultimately contribute to the advancement of the healthcare system in the country.

Important note:

• In case of any query before submission of the proposal and to obtain RFP documents along with the list of nursing institutions, please write an email to [email protected]

Planned timelines

• Start date: 15/08/2024
• End date: 15/10/2024

1. Work to be performed

Output: A comprehensive report highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) at the provincial and National levels (ensure assessment regarding availability of qualified faculty, training equipment and materials).

Deliverable 1.1: Inception report based on the literature review and previous reports on nursing education, current state of nursing institutional capacity, verifying documents, records, and policies (national, provincial and regions) including the number of schools, financing, governance, nursing regulations and educational quality and capacities (faculty and staff members, faculty development, students, curriculum, teaching/learning resources, regulation, and accreditation among others).

Deliverable 1.2 A report on governance mechanism and quality of nursing education based on qualitative survey/ IDIs from National/Provincial stakeholders.

Deliverable 1.3 A report indicating the level of compliance with national standards

Deliverable 1.4 Use quantitative data analyses to present the results of the situation analyses.

Deliverable 1.5 Highlight best practices and benchmarking data for nursing education in Pakistan.

Deliverable 1.6: A report indicating the level of compliance with national accreditation standards along with a plan outlining recommendations for improvement in nursing education, including strategies for addressing deficiencies.

Output 2: Enhance the credibility, accountability and transparency of nursing education in Pakistan.

Deliverable 2.1: Identify areas for improvement in nursing education and provide recommendations and actionable insights and implementing innovations in nursing education.

Deliverable 2.2: Develop comprehensive report with a clear action/ implementation plan with timeline and a monitoring approach to strengthen nursing instructional capacity and education programs in Pakistan.

Deliverable 2.3: Share audit reports presentation (ppt) with findings, and recommendations to M/oNHSR&C and WHO.

2. Technical Supervision

The selected assignment will work on the supervision of:

Responsible Officer: System Cluster Coordinator

Manager: WR Pakistan

3. Specific requirements

• Institution/ firm Qualifications required:

• Demonstratable experience of the Institute/ firm conducting evaluations and assessments.
• A postgraduate degree in nursing/ public Health for a team lead Ph.D. is preferred
• A good team to collect and analyze data

Experience required:

• Institution team qualification: Minimum 10 years of experience in nursing education and worked as a principal of nursing is preferred

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

• Excellent research methodology and writing skills
• Ability to produce analytical work in the area of the nursing workforce.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure to achieve multiple deadlines.
• Demonstrate teamwork and coordination skills with multiple stakeholders.
• Knowledge of the public health sector and issues.

Other Skills (e.g. IT)

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.

Language requirements:

• Excellent knowledge of English

4. Place of assignment

Islamabad, with travels to the provinces and districts

5. Travel

The expert is expected to travel according to the itinerary and estimated schedule below:

Travel dates

From: 15/08/2024

To: 15/10/2024

Location:

Provincial Health Departments/ Nursing Institutes

Purpose:

Assessment visits to Provinces and regions for assessment of the institutions.

All travel arrangements will be made by WHO – WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO. While on mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance.

Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

The technical evaluation criteria of the proposals will include:

1. Proven experience of the firm in implementing health projects and conducting assessments/evaluations and evidence of expertise: (max 15 marks)

• 15 years and above experience – 15 marks
• 10 to 14 Years experience – 10 marks
• 5 to 9 Years of experience – 5 marks

2. Approach to conduct the third-party assessment / methodological design, framework, and tools to perform assessment. (35 marks)

3. Qualified & experienced team of consultants for conducting third-party assessments of various institutions in the health sector or projects either in Pakistan context or countries with contexts similar to Pakistan. (35 marks)

4. Rational timeline for completion of work within the agreed timeframe after award of contract. (5 marks)

5. Emphasis on QA in a comprehensive manner in the technical proposal. (10 marks)

The financial proposal is to be submitted separately in a sealed envelope and will be opened only if the technical proposal is short-listed.