Authors: Sheila Baluka, Balidawa John, Moses Mwebaza Kakooza, Paul Mubiri
Introduction
Effective management of the health workforce remains a persistent challenge in many low-resource settings, including Uganda. With growing populations and increasing demand for health services, the mismatch between available health workers and service delivery needs has become more evident. Performance gaps in key service areas such as child immunization, maternal and child health, and disease surveillance are often traced back to poor planning, weak supervision, and suboptimal staff engagement. (WHO,2016). This abstract highlights how Jinja District Health Management Team (DHMT) leveraged data from the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) to analyze workforce performance challenges and implement solutions using the PERFORM2Scale Management Strengthening Intervention (MSI).
Methods
The intervention began with an orientation visit led by Makerere University School of Public Health. Using DHIS2 data from the past five years, the team performed a situation analysis which aided the identification of 5 key health workforce performance and health service delivery problems. The data was visualized using dashboards and analyzed to identify trends, bottlenecks, and disparities across sub-counties. A performance gap analysis ranked low immunization coverage as the top priority. Immunization coverage had stagnated at 67%, and a problem tree analysis was used to identify root causes. An operational workplan was developed collaboratively, assigning responsibilities, and timelines to specific DHMT members
Results
The implementation spanned approximately 8 months and yielded notable improvements:
100% (66/66) of health facilities submitted complete monthly reports on immunization, compared to less than 80% at baseline. 85% (56/66) of health facilities developed and submitted EPI micro-plans. Coverage of fully immunized children by one year increased from 67% to 87% (FY2019/20 to FY2020/21), despite COVID-19 disruptions. Documentation improved significantly, with CQI journals and reflective diaries institutionalized in routine management.
Conclusion
The experience from Jinja District affirms that data-driven, locally owned management interventions can significantly improve health workforce performance. The MSI methodology, when implemented with commitment and supported by robust data systems like DHIS2, has the potential to transform district health systems.
Key words: Perform2Scale, Management Strengthening Intervention, Health workforce performance
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