Consultancy - Developing an Investment Case for Newborn Care in Kenya

Purpose of consultancy

The goal of the investment case is to generate evidence on the potential benefits and returns on investment for providing improved essential newborn care and comprehensive newborn care for small and sick newborns in Kenya.

Objectives:

• To estimate the unit costs and the total cost of providing essential newborn care package for level one newborn units at level 2 and level 3 facilities.
• To estimate unit costs and the total cost of providing comprehensive newborn care for sick and small newborns for all level 2 newborn units at level 4 to 6 facilities.
• Conduct impact modelling to project the benefits (lives saved and deaths averted that would result from providing an improved newborn care package.
• To perform a return-on-investment analysis based on the cost and projected benefits of an investment newborn care.
• Provide potential financing windows and pathway to implementation of the investment case.
• Produce advocacy material based on the investment case

Responsibilities

Methodology of the investment case process

• The consultant will elaborate on a detailed methodology as part of their inception report. The methodology will involve conducting desk review of relevant documents on newborn service delivery including policies, strategies, guidelines and standards to understand the high impact interventions to be costed and the inputs necessary
• Methodology to cost high impact interventions shall be determined, and modelling approach to estimate the estimated number of lives saved at optimal and suboptimal service delivery coverage states.
• The consultant shall also estimate potential cost benefit ratios which will outline the economic benefits vs the investment costs and used to predict the returns that would accrue from each dollar invested.
• The consultant will also assess the financing and resource gaps to identify the possible sources of funding to implement the optimal scale up of newborn care. In addition, a phased implementation approach may be used to guide the implementation of the investment case.
• The consultant will develop the Investment case for newborn care and develop advocacy material based on the investment case developed.

Scope of Work:

• Define the scope of the investment case, including the geographical focus (type of hospital), target population, and types of interventions to be considered as per the norms and standards for newborn care
• Identify the key stakeholders and their roles in the development and implementation of the investment case
• Compile and analyse relevant data on newborn health indicators, including mortality rates, and access to care
• Conduct a situational analysis to identify gaps and bottlenecks in small and sick newborn care services (Review existing government reports or UN reports on SSNC)
• Explore various investment options for improving small and sick newborn care, including infrastructure development (increasing floor space/ new buildings), capacity building, HR and policy reforms
• Assess the potential tools to use for benefits modelling
• Assess potential costing methods to use
• Identify potential sources of funding for the proposed investments, including government budgets, donor contributions, and innovative financing mechanisms
• Facilitate consultations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, healthcare providers, civil society organizations, and donors
• Create a policy document to foster collaboration and consensus-building among stakeholders to support the implementation of the investment case
• Create advocacy material targeting key decision makers based on the investment case
• Develop a monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress towards the goals and objectives of the investment case
• Define key performance indicators and data collection methods to assess the impact of investments in small and sick newborn care
• The scope of work may be expanded to include investment case for intrapartum maternal care as a continuum

Consultancy Team

• Senior Consultant Economist
• Senior Consultant Service Delivery
• Support Consultant

Required Qualifications

Essential:

A firm/company with the following team members:

• A consultant with an advanced university degree in Health Economics, Health Financing, Health Planning, Health Systems Management, Demography or related fields
• A second consultant with public health or clinical health in newborn/paediatric care degree/masters in paediatrics or medicine
• A Public Health Practitioner with Health Systems Strengthening Experience

Experience

• Each consultant with at least 7years- of progressive professional experience related thematic areas
• Demonstrated successful experience in developing evidence-based publications, investment cases, financial sustainability plans, policy briefs, strategies, guidelines, reports in the health sector and preferably in newborn and child health
• Evidence of publication of research study articles in refereed journals
• Experience working with different multidisciplinary stakeholders/counterparts at national and global levels
• Demonstrated experience with writing and editing project plans, policy briefs and policy reports
• Evidence of publication of research study articles in high impact journals is an added advantage
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation is an added advantage

Skills/Knowledge

• Fluency in English with excellent writing, analytical and communication skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent skills in using Microsoft Office
• Proven strong writing, communication and presentation skills
• Sound technical knowledge of public health and/or health economics
• Ability to work under pressure, be flexible, meet short deadlines and maintain diplomacy
• Ability to work harmoniously as a member of a team, adapt to diverse educational and cultural backgrounds