Monitoring & Supervision (M&S) Tool Revision Workshop was Held
From 18th to 21st March 2025, a workshop was held in Kadoma, Mashonaland West Province, with the aim of revising the current national M&S tool for 5S-KAIZEN-TQM Approach. A total of 31 participants from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Target Hospitals, and Provincial Health Executives (PHEs) attended the workshop. The M&S tool is designed to support observation and assessment of progress in quality improvement activities at healthcare facilities and Provincial Medical Directors’ offices (PMD Offices), as well as to identify measures for further promoting these efforts.
Participants discussing revision points for the M&S tool during the group work session
Incorporating Feedback from Frontline Workers into the Tool Revision
While the current M&S tool has been useful for carefully assessing the progress of 5S-KAIZEN activities, feedback from frontline staff indicated that some of the questions were overly detailed or difficult to understand, making the tool challenging to use in practice.
To address these concerns, the workshop focused on revising the tool to be more user-friendly for frontline staff and to better reflect the realities of 5S-KAIZEN activities in Zimbabwean hospitals. Particular care was taken to ensure that using the tool would not place an excessive burden on hospital staff.
The participants, who are key members involved in quality improvement and M&S activities from target hospitals and PHEs, engaged in active discussions to refine the tool. On the third day, participants conducted field tests of the revised tool to confirm its practicality and identify areas for further improvement. Feedback from these field tests was incorporated into the final draft of the revised tool. The tools for hospital was tested at Gweru Provincial Hospital, while the tools for PHE was piloted at the Midlands PMD office.
Toward Finalization of the New M&S Tool
The M&S tool revised during this workshop is scheduled to be finalized following its use in the 4th round of external M&S, which will start in April 2025. By utilizing this tool, which thoughtfully incorporates feedback from frontline staff, it is expected that quality improvement activities are expected to be sustainably implemented at healthcare facilities throughout Zimbabwe.
Japanese expert explaining how to proceed with the group work during the workshop.
Participants discussing revision points during the group work.
Quality Assurance Officer from Quality Assurance and Patient Safety Directorate, MoHCC, facilitating the plenary discussion after the group work
Participants testing the revised M&S tool at Gweru Provincial Hospital
Participants testing the revised M&S tool at the Midlands PMD office
Plenary discussion after the field tests