Surgical Assessment Tool for Ethiopia National Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

Introduction: A baseline assessment of surgical capacity is recommended as a first-step to inform national policy on surgical system strengthening. In Ethiopia, the World Health Organization's Situational Analysis Tool (WHO SAT) was adapted to assess surgical capacity as part of a national initiative: Saving Lives Through Safe Surgery (SaLTS). This study describes the process of adapting this tool and initial results.

Methods: The new tool was used to evaluate fourteen hospitals in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia between February and March 2017. Two analytic methods were employed. To compare this data to international metrics, the WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) framework was used. To assess congruence with national policy, data was evaluated against Ethiopian SaLTS targets.

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Key information

Conditions

Global Surgery Global Anesthesia Health Planning Health System Public Health

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Fourteen public hospitals (11 primary, 1 general, and 2 specialized) chosen by the regional health bureau
Hospital staff with willingness to participate in study
Hospital staff with availability to participate in study

Exclusion criteria

Hospital staff which did not volunteer to participate or refused to participate were excluded.
Hospital staff not available at the time of visit
Hospitals not chosen by the regional health bureau

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

General service readiness

Time frame: Cross-Sectional, assesses availability of this infrastructure within the past year in general

Measured by the number of hospital beds, major operating rooms, surgical/anesthesia/and obstetric providers, and basic infrastructure availability
Basic surgery readiness

Time frame: Cross-Sectional, assesses availability of tracer items within the past year in general

Readiness for surgical services was assessed based on the presence of tracer items identified by WHO/USAID Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) as particularly important for providing basic surgical services. The service specific readiness score is defined as the mean availability of service specific tracer items in three domains (staff and training, equipment, and medicines and commodities).
Comprehensive surgery readiness

Time frame: Cross-Sectional, assesses availability of tracer items within the past year in general

Readiness for surgical services was assessed based on the presence of additional tracer items identified by WHO/USAID Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) as necessary to provide comprehensive surgical services, beyond those needed for basic surgery.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

Other

Collaborators

Federal Minstry of Health of Ethiopia
General Electric
Jhpiego

Registry information

Official study title

Development of a Surgical Assessment Tool for National Policy Monitoring & Evaluation in Ethiopia: A Quality Improvement Study

Important dates

Study start: 2016
Primary completion: 2019
Study completion: 2019
First posted: Feb 19, 2020
Registry last updated: Feb 19, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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