Surgical Assessment Tool for Ethiopia National Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

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

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.

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