Medics Without Vacation Strategy 2030

STRATEGY

2030

Caring together for satisfied patients

CONTENTS 2

INTRODUCTION

P4

VISION, MISSION, IDENTITY

P6

VALUES

P9

GLOBAL CONTEXT

P 10

STRATEGY

P 12

ORGANISATION

P 18

CONCLUSION

P 26

We work together towards high-quality hospital care tailored to the real needs of the population in a region, so that they are able to attend at any time and are satisfied.

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INTRODUCTION

Global healthcare and international cooperation are both faced with major and complex challenges. This became all the more clear during this Covid-19 pandemic.

The context in which everything changes rapidly, forces us to reflect how we should adapt to remain agile.

Through a broad participatory process, involving volunteers, board of directors,

If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.

AFRICAN PROVERB

members of the general assembly, staff, local experts and representatives of partner hospitals in Africa, we have laid the foundations for our organisation’s future.

The ambition of the strategy is to build on 40 years’ experience in health care.

We are convinced that the unique ecosystem of Medics Without Vacation still has a great added value in making hospitals grow. We are evolving towards a more integrated and patient-oriented approach to strive for an accessible, high-quality and resilient healthcare worldwide.

We are looking forward to realising, together with you, exciting, innovative and ambitious projects, whose strengths will lie in authentic cooperation.

Krista Vandenborre, President

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Medics Without Vacation believes that the local medical partners in their own communities can shape accessible, high-quality healthcare in a sustainable way. Through the exchange of medical and paramedical expertise and with support at organisational, technical and material levels, our partners in Sub-Saharan Africa are better equipped to take on their roles in the health system. We achieve this partly with the support of our volunteers and in cooperation with local actors and others. Our partnerships are built on respectful dialogue, the exchange of knowledge with a focus on the local context and long-term relationships.

Medics Without Vacation is a recognised NGO and a dynamic network of health professionals in Belgium and Africa who wholeheartedly engage with their colleagues striving for an accessible, high-quality and resilient healthcare. Because that is a right to everyone.

IDENTITY

VISION MISSION 6

Knowledge heals!

Medics Without Vacation strengthens the capacities of its partners in Sub-Saharan Africa to actively contribute to accessible and highquality healthcare for the local population.

We are proud of forty years of commitment, knowhow and cooperation. Our strength lays in the engagement of many health professionals and other volunteers. Together with a staff team that specialises in international cooperation, we form an ecosystem. In this way, we work together in a way that is meaningful and sustainable; that offers unity and involvement; that is connecting and enriching, both in Belgium and in Africa.

This makes hospitals grow, health professionals develop their skills, and patients receive the best care.

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We treat each other with respect, on an equal basis and without any form of discrimination. We follow a professional, medical ethical and organisational code within the scope of our mission, vision and strategy

We strive for excellence.

We want to improve our projects, knowledge, experience and relationships with stakeholders. We feel involved in decisionmaking and cooperation with our partners. This is how we achieve the best results, to the satisfaction of all.

We assume our responsibility.

We take initiative, express views and consider ourselves responsible and accountable. We say what we stand for, engage in debate and create value for people and stakeholders

VALUES

Integrity is of paramount importance to us.

We do everything focusing on sustainable impact.

We foster sustainable relationships with employees, experts, partners and donors.

We are demand-driven and committed to equality. Sustainability in all its dimensions is a common thread in everything we wish to achieve and the way in which we achieve it.

We cooperate in solidarity.

In this way we create meaning for each other. Real people, with real stories, create real connections.

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GLOBAL CONTEXT

We act within a rapidly changing context. People and organisations must be able to capitalise on this, and search for new, innovative ways of working. Also, the medical sector is evolving at an accelerated pace and becoming ever more complex. There are no simple solutions in a field such as healthcare and this demands a diversified approach in which international cooperation is more essential than ever.

The Covid-19 reality has made these relationships even more important. The current pandemic and the growing urgency of the climate crisis demonstrate our interdependency, and how important it is that we take urgent action to grasp common opportunities and take on challenges. The ongoing health crisis has once again confirmed the need for resilient, high-quality healthcare for all worldwide in.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals aim to improve the situation of all nations in the world and to promote international cooperation between all countries and actors. The North-South paradigm is no longer tenable, and this demands a mind shift for all of us.

Yet we are more connected than ever in today’s world. Better access to technology and knowledge makes it much easier to share ideas and innovation. However, amid this ongoing technological progress, it remains important that we enable authentic forms of connection, getting to know each other and work in an atmosphere of equality, openness and trust.

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STRATEGY

An integrated patient-oriented approach The patient comes first for Medics Without Vacation. We make reference hospitals grow and work together towards high-quality hospital care tailored to the real needs of the population in a region so that they can attend at any time and are satisfied.

Referral system

Community

Primary health centre

First level reference hospital

Higher level (secondary and tertiary) hospital

We integrate a public health vision into our approach in order to better respond to the complexity and various challenges of healthcare. This means that we strengthen reference hospitals on the basis of a broader impact on a health system as a whole.

A reference hospital should be equipped with a complementary package of activities in order to receive patients referred by health centres and to give these centres feedback in turn.

All of this is framed within the national health policy of each country. Closer cooperation and dialogue with local authorities and the management of a health zone are keys to success. Hospitals and other local social actors can influence the policy from below by approaching and involving government structures in a proactive way. In this way challenges can be addressed collectively and at different levels.

This integrated, patient-oriented approach will enable reference hospitals to provide essential, necessary healthcare, improve the accessibility of healthcare and become more resilient with regard to crises arising from climate change, pandemics or conflicts.

Informal healthcare providers and community health worker network, connected to broader health system

Well connected to the first-level hospital through efficient communications and reliable referral

Having a complementary package of activities and good connections with health centres and more specialised hospitals

Hub for system-wide clinical, education, and research support centers for care-specialisation

Indicates the flow of patients and information

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Healthcare institutions within a specific zone

In order to guarantee quality and sustainability of healthcare, we also encourage reference hospitals to cooperate better with primary healthcare providers and others. In partnership with other local actors such as patient groups, medical professional associations, networks of hospitals or actors such as local NGOs, Medics Without Vacation can provide hospitals with a more varied support when taking on their role within a health system.

Health zone

Strengthening reference hospitals so that they can take on their role and responsibilities in regard to population and health system is at the heart of our partnership. This means that we define the goals of our cooperation jointly with each hospital, and that they are actively involved in monitoring the activities and their financing. Medics Without Vacation develops its partnerships with hospitals on the basis of their needs, starting from the hospital’s mission within the health system and the competencies of the medical and technical staff.

Ministry of Health

The reference hospital remains the entry point to a healthcare system for Medics Without Vacation. They are actor of change: a hospital that shows leadership is capable of addressing societal developments in healthcare. At the same time, hospitals need to be resilient when dealing with the consequences of climate change, pandemics or conflicts.

WHO World Health Organisation

STRATEGY

An equal partnership with and around the reference hospital Network of hospitals

Local health authorities

Other local social actors

Private sector

Patient groups

Education & research Partner hospitals

Medics Without Vacation regional antennas & network of health professionals

A more integrated approach

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STRATEGY

More clout through co-creation and innovation as primary tools.

Methodology of the Capacity Strengthening Trajectory (TRC) of reference hospitals: This remains the basis for a demand-driven approach to strengthen knowledge and competences among medical and paramedical staff, to reinforce support and technical services for the procurement, use and maintenance of biomedical material and to improve hospital management. From a public health vision, other elements will be integrated such as leadership, cooperation with other actors and policy influencing, better referral systems, innovations, adaptability and networking with other hospitals. The TRC will also be adapted for Capacity Strengthening Trajectories of other local actors.

Certification of training courses: Training and education of hospital staff is one of the core tasks of Medics Without Vacation. This is achieved through a series of activities such as on-the-job coaching, workshops and seminars, conferences and events, training courses, e-learning and other structured forms of learning.

As there is a great demand among hospital staff for gaining certificates for these courses, Medics Without Vacation will attempt to gain accreditation as a Continuing Professional Development provider for its structured, recognised approach. This will enable health staff to develop sustainably.

Innovation: Medics Without Vacation invests in innovation. Through innovation we wish to find solutions to the many strategic challenges in the health sector that arise from our interventions. An innovation fund will be set up to encourage all forms of innovation. Innovations involve a capitalisation of knowledge, investment in digitisation at all levels, scaling up of good practices and continuous efforts to respond and adapt to the various evolutions and contexts in Africa and Belgium.

Developing strategies and harmonising protocols: We take part in co-creative processes of strategy development in specific health areas, at the request of and in cooperation with national health authorities and other partners. We cooperate on the harmonisation and implementation of the protocols necessary in a reference hospital. In this way we are able to make hospitals grow, also on a larger scale.

Co-creation and partnerships: Cooperation with international partners is important in order to maximise our impact. Based on our specificity, we want to dialogue with stakeholders, define directions, solve problems and develop innovations. Through co-creation we aim to find solutions in equality, reciprocity, openness and trust for complex issues and achieve sustainable changes in healthcare: improved referral systems, demand-driven action research, investment in (digital) infrastructure and biomedical material, greater coherence between humanitarian aid, structural development and peace, and financial accessibility of care.

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ORGANISATION

Evolution towards a network organisation In a globalised world in which we are interconnected and where reality is complex and dynamic, Medics Without Vacation has decided to evolve into a network organisation. Our strength lays in the voluntary commitment of many health professionals and other volunteers who we want to connect through a network that transcends borders. Together with the staff team specialised in international cooperation, we form an ecosystem. In this way we work on activities that are meaningful and sustainable; that offer unity and involvement; that are connecting and enriching both in Belgium and Africa.

The network organisation is characterised by a range of working groups with health volunteers and local experts who are organised according to various medical, paramedical and technical disciplines in Belgium and Africa who will cooperate

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on a multiregional and project-by-project basis.

Health volunteers and local experts will be able to take on various roles:

Coaching

Connecting

Adapting

Mobilising

Adapting

Coaching • • • •

The working groups will bring health volunteers and local experts in Africa and Belgium together (online) and enable them to share information and knowledge. Questions and needs from the field will be discussed and activities organised.

Work visits to partner hospitals and other local partners such as model hospitals (P20), networks of hospitals and medical professional associations will be scheduled, provided with feedback

Training (‘on the job’ or workshops) Online courses and coaching Train the trainers Monitoring and supervision

• • • •

Mobilising • • • •

Testimonies Communication Fundraising Awareness raising

Working groups Improving methodologies and innovations Harmonisation, standardisation Documentation and evaluation of experiences

Connecting • • • • •

Expanding the network Mentorship Conferences/publications Lobbying and partnerships

< 2021 Bedside teaching and training 1:1

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Roles for health professionals within the MWV network

Exchange dynamics between regions and countries: knowledge, experience, protocols, training, strategies, training materials, innovation, regional training courses, workshops, cooperation, research etc.

WE ARE EVOLVING INTO A NETWORK ORGANISATION 19

ORGANISATION

and evaluated. They will be organised in various forms, such as on-the-job coaching, train-thetrainer, workshops and seminars. With the aid of digital resources, we will also invest in virtual exchanges, training courses, webinars and seminars.

For health volunteers and local experts, this means that they can engage in various ways via working groups according to discipline and different themes in Africa and Belgium In addition, health volunteers and local experts will be asked through the working groups to cooperate in the development of strategies and harmonisation of protocols according to different disciplines.

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ORGANISATION

In this way, health volunteers, local experts together with the staff of Medics Without Vacation who provide coaching, continuity and monitoring at the central hub in Mechelen and in the field, play a key role in strengthening and implementing the integrated patient-oriented approach.

We hope to be able to capitalise on this commitment by providing the necessary coaching and support for them to act as an ambassador and advocate for Medics Without Vacation to become more recognised.

MWV

Europe

MWV

MWV

East-Africa

West-Africa AZV

Central-Africa

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ORGANISATION

Unity Everyone acts in accordance with the vision and mission of Medics Without Vacation, as well as the practices of development cooperation (decolonisation, contextualisation, equal partnerships, accountability etc.)

Structure Clear, transparent management, structuring and coordination of the network are key to greater efficiency, not only for dealing with complex problems but also to achieve a sustainable impact.

Ingredients of Medics Without Vacation as a network organisation

Equilibrium Medics Without Vacation is evolving into a numerically balanced and growing network of health professionals from Belgium and Africa. The network will be organised in each region into similar working groups which are interconnected between the regions.

Diversity The unity we wish to maintain as a network must simultaneously encourage diversity.

Diversity is important in terms of the involvement of the various medical, paramedical and technical disciplines and the different cultures, methodologies, views and roles.

Involvement Interconnectedness, ongoing training and learning together, transparency and communication are at the heart of the network.

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CONCLUSION

We act within a rapidly changing context. The health sector is also evolving at an accelerated pace and becoming ever more complex.

There are no simple solutions in a field such as healthcare and this demands a diversified approach, in which international cooperation is more essential than ever.

From a public health vision, we adopt an integrated and patientoriented approach. We strengthen reference hospitals and other local actors and work together to provide high-quality hospital care that is tailored to the real needs of the population in a region so that they can attend at any time and are satisfied.

Medics Without Vacation is evolving into a network organisation. Our strength lies in the voluntary involvement of many health professionals and other volunteers. Together with the staff team specialised in international cooperation, we form an ecosystem. In this way we work on activities that are meaningful and sustainable; that offer unity and involvement; that are connecting and enriching both in Belgium and Africa.

We work on activities that are meaningful and sustainable; that offer unity and involvement; that are connecting and enriching both in Belgium and Africa.

We value 40 years of commitment, know-how and cooperation. In this way, we make hospitals grow. Health professional develop their skills.

And patients receive the best care.

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R.P. Krista Vandenborre, President • Medics Without Vacation • Zwartzustervest 21 • 2800 Mechelen

Medics Without Vacation Zwartzustersvest 21 B-2800 Mechelen