Led by the Ministry of Health with WHO support, the scope of the first Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA survey) of hospitals in the Republic of Moldova was introduced on 18 March 2014 in Chisinau.
At the kick-off meeting, key stakeholders presented the purpose, methodology and rationale of the SARA survey. The meeting aimed to generate support among hospitals to conduct the study and facilitate the data collection process.
The meeting was part of a 2-week mission conducted by international consultants to support effective implementation of the SARA survey. They provided training and mentoring to a 30-person team on how to collect data in the field, use electronic software for data analysis and processing, and conduct interviews with the national stakeholders.
Preparations began already in 2013, with the creation of a working group under the Ministry of Health to coordinate the survey and adaptation of the questionnaire by national authorities with WHO guidance.
Overview of hospital services and service conditions
The SARA survey will cover all 72 hospitals in the country (including private hospitals). It aims to provide:
- an overview of hospital services and service conditions;
- information for monitoring, evaluation, and planning that is comparable across facilities, geography and time; and
- indicators for quality.
Information will be collected for each facility about:
- availability of services;
- present resources in the hospital and in specific wards (such as health specialists, minimum list of drugs and medical equipment);
- management systems that support safe and quality service delivery (such as quality assurance, infection prevention, facility and staff management practices);
- information for monitoring, evaluation and planning;
- building infrastructure conditions and basic resources.
The data collected in the survey will be analysed and used by central and local health authorities in their planning and decision making about the reform of service delivery and hospitals.
Application of WHO tool and mechanisms
The survey uses a tool developed by WHO and implemented by a national team of health specialists, statisticians and IT experts recruited by the National Centre of Health Management. The survey was piloted for training purposes in the Emergency Hospital.
Implementation schedule
The data collection process will take place April–May 2014. The team at the National Centre of Health Management will split into groups and visit all of the hospitals to collect the data. The whole process will be monitored and coordinated by the Ministry of Health and National Centre of Health Management under the guidance of WHO experts and the WHO Country Office.
After the data is collected it will be checked for quality and validated. A list of indicators will be developed to match the areas the national authorities would like to analyse and to ensure comparability across institutions. A report with findings will be discussed at a workshop in July.
These activities are part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and WHO project on strengthening governance and policy dialogue in the health sector in the Republic of Moldova.
