RCSI/COSECSA COLLABORATION PROGRAMME Annual Report for 2018 Submitted to Irish Aid 1st March 2019 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 4 KEY NUMBERS ................................................................................................................................ 5 INTRODUCTION: THE RCSI/COSECSA COLLABORATION PROGRAMME ............................................ 6 PARTNERSHIP ........................................................................................................................................ 6 OVERSIGHT AND ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................................................ 6 GOALS AND OUTCOMES .......................................................................................................................... 7 EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE ...................................................................................................................... 7 PROGRESS TOWARDS RESULTS IN 2018 .......................................................................................... 8 OUTCOME 1: COSECSA WILL HAVE THE CAPACITY TO MEET COMPLEX FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING COMMITMENTS, ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE FINANCING, AND MANAGE EFFICIENT OPERATIONS ACROSS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Financial Management, income diversity, sustainability ............................................................... 8 Other donors .................................................................................................................................. 9 Member countries ......................................................................................................................... 9 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 10 OUTCOME 2: COSECSA WILL HAVE THE CAPACITY TO CONDUCT AND DISSEMINATE MULTI-COUNTRY RESEARCH OF REGIONAL POLICY RELEVANCE AND ENGAGE SYSTEMATICALLY TO SHAPE POLICY AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN THIS AREA. ................................................................................................................................................. 11 Developing a Research framework .............................................................................................. 11 Advocacy and policy impact ........................................................................................................ 12 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 12 OUTCOME 3: COSECSA WILL ENGAGE ITS MEMBERS, FELLOWS, TRAINEES AND THE WIDER SURGICAL, MEDICAL AND GENERAL PUBLIC ................................................................................................................................... 13 Trainees and alumni .................................................................................................................... 13 Surgical and medical community ................................................................................................. 13 Women in Surgery Africa (WiSA) ................................................................................................. 14 General public .............................................................................................................................. 15 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 15 OUTCOME 4 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROCESSES WILL BE EMBEDDED ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF COSECSA TRAINING, EXAMINATIONS AND ACCREDITATION ....................................................................................................... 16 Curriculum revision ...................................................................................................................... 16 Exam Writing ............................................................................................................................... 16 Examiner exchange ...................................................................................................................... 16 Two exam centres ........................................................................................................................ 17 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 17 OUTCOME 5 COSECSA WILL ENSURE THAT ITS FELLOWS AND OTHER SURGEONS MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS NEEDED TO DELIVER A HIGH QUALITY SURGICAL SERVICE IN THE REGION ........................ 18 Master Training and Leadership Development for the Surgical Team ........................................ 18 New online curriculum for Basic Science ...................................................................................... 19 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 19 OUTCOME 6 COSECSA WILL REACH OUT TO SURGICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH, AND SUPPORT FOR, COLLEGES OF ALLIED HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS, AND ALLIED SURGICAL CARE STAFF .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Liaising with allied health bodies ................................................................................................. 20 EST training .................................................................................................................................. 21 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 21 PROGRESS SINCE INCEPTION OF THE PROGRAMME ...................................................................... 22 2 ANALYSIS OF TRENDS AND EMERGING LONG-TERM RESULTS ....................................................... 23 APPENDIX I RCSI/COSECSA STEERING COMMITTEE ....................................................................... 25 APPENDIX II CP FINANCIAL RETURNS 2018 ................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX III THEORY OF CHANGE ................................................................................................ 27 3 Executive Summary In 2018, the Collaboration Programme (CP) made steady progress towards the twin goals for the 2017-2020 phase, which are a) ensuring the financial and operational sustainability of COSECSA, and b) ensuring the quality of the COSECSA training, examination and accreditation model and enhancing the quality of surgical care practice in the region. COSECSA’s financial sustainability received a boost in 2018 through a grant of $254,000 from the GE Foundation. This award will be paid over two years to support COSECSA in providing Master Training and Leadership development to surgical teams in 12 countries in partnership with the RCSI Institute of Leadership and Safe Surgery 2020. COSECSA also significantly increased internally generated income in 2018 but there remains room to improve income from Membership and Fellowship annual subscriptions, and externally from public funding in the region. Other notable highlights included the largest ever graduating class with 85 new Fellows, 17% of whom were women. Women graduates took the top prizes in 3 of the 8 Fellowship specialties. A short survey conducted in early 2019 indicates that the retention rate for graduates from 2014-2017 is 83%. COSECSA is now well positioned to exceed its top-line target of graduating 500 surgeons by 2020. Two new member countries joined in 2018 and COSECSA now reaches a population of more than 400 million people. The CP focused many efforts on ensuring the quality of training and exams in 2018. This included the first comprehensive analysis of the surgeries that COSECSA trainees performed during their training, as recorded in the e-logbook. The CP facilitated an exam writing seminar and continued the reciprocal examiner exchange programme between RCSI and COSECSA. The CP also conducted a feasibility study and made recommendations on how COSECSA can continue to deliver a well-regarded exam to increasing numbers of candidates in the future. The CP also conducted a review of key corporate governance documents and a mid-term review of COSECSA’s strategy. The analyses of the e-logbook demonstrated the potential impact of data uniquely held by COSECSA as information resources for policy and health advocacy in the region. COSECSA published its principles for collaborative research in 2018 and the CP will work with COSECSA to develop its research framework further in 2019. The CP also engaged in a communications project to raise awareness of RCSI’s and Irish Aid’s contribution to global surgery through the CP in 2018. In 2019, COSECSA will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The CP will work with COSECSA to develop a strategic communications plan around this milestone. As the CP enters its penultimate year, the focus will be on consolidating the gains made and working with allied training bodies, such as anaesthesia, to improve the overall situation