Project News

Central Management Supportive Supervision (CMSS）is a management toolfor Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare which was developed in the first phase of the project.Through CMSS, the supervisors, comprising mainly of ministry officials, review the implementation status of the activities and management capacity, and support RHMTs to solve their problems through discussion at time of the visit.　Two to three days are spent in each region whereby the supervisors visit Regional Referral Hospitals and Council Health Management Teams (CHMTs) to see how RHMTs are supporting them.

In February 2012, two CMSS supervisors made one team and 5 teams visited 13 regions out of 21. RHM2 Japanese experts accompanied the visit to observe the implementation process and its effectiveness. In CMSS, the supervisors use specially designed tools for capacity assessment and progress monitoring, supporting RHMT's understanding of actual situation. The supervisors engage in interactive coaching incorporating information on the national policy and programme as well as sharing the good practices in the other regions.

An excellent facilitation skill was displayed by an experienced supervisor who boosted the motivation of the RHMT members through active discussion, stressing the importance of teamwork and reminding them the catch-phrase of the project "TUUNGANE ("let us unite" in Kiswahili)".

In the 7 regions where the Japanese experts took part in the visit all RHMTs appreciated that the points for improvement are clarified. Furthermore, the joint visit to CHMTs together with the RHMT members seemed to strengthen the relationship between council and regional teams. CMSS is an effective opportunity for direct interaction for the central level supervisors and RHMT members.

At the same time, some challenges were observed in the allocation of human and budgetary resources in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare as well as in the lack of follow-up mechanism after CMSS visit. The Project will further support the ministry by searching for a sustainable and ministry- owned mode for the future implementation of CMSS.

Discussion with Dodoma RHMT

Conducting an interview at Singida Regional Referral Hospital