On 15 May 2024, WASHTED team, together with partners from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Strathclyde, held a fruitful research dissemination conference at Sunbird Livingstonia in Salima.
The dissemination conference was typically aimed at sharing and discussing with relevant stakeholders the key findings of a groundbreaking research that WASHTED conducted in Guardian Waiting Shelters (GWS). The presentation spotlighted the essential role of the GWS despite it being a neglected component of the healthcare service system in the country and the poor state of the GWS infrastructure, including inadequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services and a lack of infection prevention control (IPC) policy.
This one-day event was attended by key figures in healthcare service delivery, including, the Deputy Director Responsible for Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Health, Representatives from the District Councils, representatives from the Legislature, and partners from other NGOs working in WASH in healthcare facilities, including WaterAid and the White Rippon Alliance. The meeting was so interactive as delegates appreciated the power of research and were eager to contribute towards solving challenges currently being faced in healthcare facilities, specifically among the patient guardians.
WASHTED presentation was supported by other presentations from partners from WaterAid and the Ministry of Health on WASH and IPC in healthcare facilities. Both presentations also highlighted the existing gap in IPC within the GWS, and WaterAid findings also pinpointed WASH challenges within the GWS.
Discussions with the stakeholders centred on four key action areas: Who should have the overall responsibility of GWS? Who should have overall responsibility for the IPC/WASH daily operations of GWS? Can we incorporate GWS in healthcare facilities?
IPC: How? How can we scale up and sustainably improve hygiene behaviours in GWS?
GWS ownership emerged as a hot topic as participants differed in their views as to who should have the overall responsibility of the GWS between the district council and the district health office. It was concluded that a clear policy is needed for managing GWS. Regarding the incorporation of the GWS in healthcare facility IPC, this sharing event was described as timely as IPC policy in healthcare facilities is currently under review. The Ministry of Health,, through its representation at the conference, gave room to WASHTED researchers to present the findings at a higher level, specifically to the Ministry’s Technical Working Group (TWG) on IPC/quality assurance.
Outputs of this project:
- “We can’t develop standards for a thing which doesn’t belong to us”: Assessment of infrastructure, behaviors, and user satisfaction of Guardian Waiting Shelters for secondary level hospitals in southern Malawi.
- Assessment of infrastructure, behaviours, and user satisfaction of guardian waiting shelters for secondary level hospitals in southern Malawi
