FRONTIERS Projects | Scaling Up Utilization of the Quality Assurance (QA) Checklist in India

FRONTIERS PROJECT
Scaling Up Utilization of the Quality Assurance (QA) Checklist in India

Building on the positive results of a previous project, "Development of Quality Assurance in Reproductive Health Services in District Public Health Systems," FRONTIERS is working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the state governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra to scale up the quality assurance program for district-level management.

Results of the previous project showed that the quality assurance model is easily integrated into district-level programs and significantly improves the quality of reproductive health services provided. A manual was developed as a tool to enable district-level managers to systematically monitor the quality of reproductive health services. FRONTIERS provided technical assistance to help build the capacity of state officials to implement the QA model in all 25 districts in Gujarat. During the first phase, over 1,900 staff members in about 35 percent of the state’s 1,345 primary and community health facilities received training on the QA model.

FRONTIERS helped develop a management information system and trained government staff members on its use. Use of checklists resulted in significant improvements of facility readiness and service delivery, but the quality of care provided remained uniformly low. When expansion to the remaining primary and community health centers is complete, the QA model will be implemented at the subcenter level as well.

In collaboration with UNFPA, PATH, and EngenderHealth, the Population Council is currently developing an abridged version of the manual to be introduced in six additional states.

Location

Gujarat

Duration

May 2007–February 2008

Population Council researcher

M.E. Khan

Non-Council collaborators

EngenderHealth

PATH

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Donor

US Agency for International Development

Publications/Resources
Council researchers' names appear in boldface type.

2008
"India: Quality assurance procedure monitors and improves quality of services," FRONTIERS OR Summary no. 76. Washington, DC: Population Council. (full text)

Khan, M.E., Anurag Mishra, Vivek Sharma, and Leila Caleb Varkey. "Development of a quality assurance procedure for reproductive health services for district public health systems: Implementation and scale-up in the state of Gujarat," FRONTIERS Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF, 560 KB)

2006
"Institutionalization of quality assurance in RH services at district level management in India," Asia and Near East Region OR Summary no. 7. (PDF)

"Scaling up of quality assurance measures in district level management in Gujarat State," Asia and Near East Region OR Summary no. 15. New Delhi: Population Council. (PDF)

Varkey, Leila Caleb, M.E. Khan, Dinesh Agarwal, and Vivek Sharma. District Quality Assurance Program for Reproductive Health Services: An Operational Manual. New Delhi: Population Council and UNFPA. (PDF)

Related Project

Development of Quality Assurance in Reproductive Health Services in District Public Health System