Van Kemenade ACT

On the 15th of March the third SYNERGY meeting took place on Saba. This meeting of the Caribbean Network of Leadership in Health Care was hosted by Saba Health Care Foundation (SHCF) and Benevolent Foundation Saba (BFS). There were 28 participants, from 9 healthcare institutes from St Maarten, Statia and Saba. The topic of the day was Safety. Koen Hulshof, director of the GGD and member of the Working Group Infection Prevention Saba held the keynote speech, together with his colleague Lennart Bergwerf (GP), on Anti-Microbial Resistance. Their presentation scored 8.4 on a ten-pointscale. Thereafter there was an introduction in the concept of safety (8.2) and 5-minute presentation by each of the partners (7.7). 

Four organisations presented their best practices on safety. Tammie Papada, quality manager at SMMC presented their  HSOPS survey on safety and she received the highest satisfaction score of the day: 8.6!!! The next presenter was Claudette Rijff of  White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation (7.95), a joint presentation of safety at St Eustatius Healthcare Foundation (presented by Granville Hassel, 7.7) and a presentation by Gisele Codrington and Diana Bakker from Mental Health st. Maarten about violence and aggression in their work (8.17). 

It is amazing to see how the network develops. From 13 participants the first meeting to 23 the second to 28 this time. And the day overall was rated the first time 8.2, the second 8.5 and this time even 8.6 !!!! on a ten point scale.  The possibility for networking in all three meetings was rated 8.7.  The question to what extent this day motivated to come next time rated also 8.7 (second time 8.7; first time 8.3).  

However there is always room for improvement. A lot of ideas have been mentioned. Because of the amount of people attending it might be good to spilt up the group in subgroups regarding a (sub)theme during the day. More interactivity would be appreciated. One member suggested to come together two days once a year to deepen subjects, another to organise a conference for all staff of the participating organisations once in two years.

The next meeting is planned 15th of November 2019, hosted by SMMC on St Maarten and will be on Prevention.

On the 15th of March 2019 the third meeting of SYNERGY, the Caribbean Network of Leadership in Healthcare will be held on Saba.

The meeting is organised in cooperation with Saba Health Care Foundation and Benevolent Foundation Saba. Main topic is Safety. Keynote speaker will be Koen Hulshof, GGD doctor and Head of Public Health Department Saba. More information can be found the SYNERGY website.

Last week I have been supporting the development of an activity plan to help the Kenya School for Integrated Medicine in Kwale to become financially sustainable from February 2020. Together with the management, staff members, Board members and the former Minister of Health from Kwale County, we explored the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the school, leading to the definition of three projects that will help the school not only to survive, but to grow: 21st century curriculum redesign, e-learning and the establishment of the DHIS2 tracker Xpert centre.

On the 5th for November the second SYNERGY meeting took place on Statia. The Caribbean network of leadership in healthcare was hosted by Sint Eustatius healthcare Foundation this time. There were 22 participants, from 9 healthcare institutes from St Maarten, Statia and Saba. The topic of the day was Quality. Besides a keynote speech by Carol King, Public Health st. Eustatius, there was a workshop on quality paradigms by Everard van Kemenade and four organisations presented their best practices on quality management: White and Yellow Cross care Foundation (Bregje Boetekees), St Eustatius Healthcare Foundation (Granville Hassel) , Benevolent Foundation Saba and Saba Health Care Foundation (Floor Burghgraef and Natascha Ulehake) .

The  day overall was rated 8.5 (8.2) on a ten point scale.  The possibility for networking was rated 8.7 (8.7). The question to what extent this day motivated to come next time rated also 8.7 (8.3).  (Between brackets you can see the scores on the satisfaction of the first SYNERGY meeting). The next meeting is planned 15th of March 2019 on Saba and will be on Safety.

On St. Maarten a Middle Management course was organised for 14 healthcare professionals from 5 institutes of three Caribbean islands: Saba, Statia and St Maarten. The course was about strategic planning on departmental level; on leadership and follower-ship and on giving, receiving and asking for feedback.

The participants rated their satisfaction for the course overall with  4.3 on a five point scale.  In the remarks it was emphasised that it is a surplus to have this training together with other HC organisations in the region. Of course there is room for improvement. One participant suggested next time “to kick it up a notch”. The extent to which the participants felt better equipped for their job scored a 4. The trainer scored 4.2 on training competencies and 4.3 on content knowledge. Eleven of the fourteen participants stated that they would surely recommend this course to others, two answered very likely, one would likely recommend the course to others.