It is rare and unexpected that a very important occasion comes into our lives and these occasions remain in our memories for our lives! Such an occasion occurred for me at my workplace at the Matrishishu Hospital in Pokhara, Nepal on 18th February 2020. The hospital received a visit from the British Ambassador to Nepal, Nicola Pillot, and Nichola Page, an advisor at the British Department for International Development (DFID).
I was invited and honoured to organize the program for this important visit. The first objective of the program was to enable interaction with members of the hospital staff to help our guests understand the current situation at the hospital and observe first-hand the services provided by departments and sections directly impacting hospital services, which in turn directly impact the safe motherhood AMA program in field level hospitals.
The second objective of the visit was to enable interaction with the Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVS) group to help them understand the impact of the AMA program at community level. There is an increasing trend for institutional deliveries in all service sites in Nepal, which improves the safety of “at risk” mothers and decreases our maternal death rate.
DFID directly supports the National AMA (national maternal care) program in Nepal and this program has had a positive impact each year. We salute the British Government and DFID and thank them for their support of this important program.
Leadership from across the hospital departments and government participated in the program planning and actual visit.
During the program I provided a verbal briefing on the hospital situation and the provision of a short summary sheet for participants based on the annual Hospital Review Paper, which I prepare for the annual hospital review program.
During the session our honorable guests raised queries about the AMA program’s status in the hospital, the hospitals patient catchment area and the Health Insurance program. They also asked if the hospital had any issues with the AMA program, patient satisfaction and overall hospital issues and whether they were taken seriously.
The second component of the interactive program was for Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV’s). This session was followed by a program of direct observation starting with the hospital maternity department. This session comprised monitoring of service delivery and dialogue with patients in the ward.
There followed short visits to the Emergency Department, The Laboratory, the Pharmacy, the central counter electronic billing section, phase one of the newborn care unit and all-service section in the hospital. Our Honorable Guests also valued their opportunity to view the hospital site and to engage directly with front-line staff.
We all have very happy memories of this special and important visit by our Honorable Guests. We offer our sincere thanks to the British Ambassador to Nepal, the DFID Advisor and the British Government for making this visit happen.
Author:
Laxman Sharma Paudel,
Medical Records Officer
Matrishishu Miteri Hospital, Nepal