Southern Ethiopia - Gwent Health Link

PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND ROLE IN THE LINK

For the past two years I have chaired the Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust Southern Ethiopia Link in my capacity as a non executive member of the Trust Board. My professional background is in criminal justice rather than health as a Chief Executive of probation services in both England and Wales. Prior to my appointment on the trust board in 2004 my knowledge of the health care system in Wales was solely that of patient and my knowledge of the link with Southern Ethiopia nonexistent.

Specific role/contribution to the work in this visit

My decision to join colleagues in a visit to Ethiopia was a somewhat reluctant one. I could see the value of observing at first hand the work of the link on the ground and of meeting key members of the partnership based there. I could also see the benefit of getting a personal feel for the context in which the link undertook its work. At the same time I was concerned that my lack of specific clinical or health focused skill could restrict my contribution and I wanted to avoid being solely an observer of others doing the ‘real work’ or, even worse, an encumbrance.

In the end I was persuaded that my experience in management would be of potential benefit to the link’s work and therefore decided to undertake work that might help to identify any management related deficits and potential solutions.
objectives for work undertaken and how these relate to the link aims and objectives

The link has its own agreed objectives. In addition to these my objectives were the visit were as follows:

• To gain a broader understanding of the work of the link in Southern Ethiopia
• To gather evidence about the efficacy of the link’s activities
• To meet key people based in Ethiopia and hear from them about how the work of the link is viewed
• To assess the management capacity and systems operating at the health centres and identify any deficits that might be reduced through intervention by link members