Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2024-12-03
Region: DEA22
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 71317210 | 85100000: Health services | 85140000: Miscellaneous health services
Estimated value: 1682095 EUR
Award criteria: price, quality

Technical requirements: According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.
Sierra Leone remains among the countries with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 443 per 100,000 live births in 2020. Neonatal mortality also remains high by international standards, at an estimated 31 per 1,000 live births (2021). 
The Sierra Leonean health system is not yet sufficiently aligned with the health needs of the population. Inadequate management of the health workforce, which is frequently rotated and for which there is no continuous, evidence-based competency development strategy, results in inadequate staff competencies, especially in the area of maternal and newborn health. 
The GIZ project "Health System Strengthening and Epidemic Prevention in Sierra Leone" builds on its predecessor. Through its support, a nationwide overview of all in-service trainings for health workers exists, which provides the basis for future institutionalized training plans. A digital roadmap for the implementation of Sierra Leone's digital strategy, the development of which was supported by the predecessor module and the DIPC project, is available. Much has also been achieved in the target districts: health workers in obstetric and neonatal emergency care have been strengthened through a national mentoring approach. Community members are taking more responsibility for the external environment of the health facilities and health workers are better integrated into the communities. Since the introduction of the digital DQA tool, 74.9% of routine health data in Kailahun and 86.9% in Kambia have been collected correctly. The basis for evidence-based decision-making and quality assurance in the selected facilities is therefore largely in place. 
The new project builds on the competencies of health care providers and capacities of health care facilities, with a special focus on maternal and newborn health and epidemic prevention and response with a One Health approach. The module objective aims for the Sierra Leonean health system to be better aligned with the gender-specific health needs of the population in selected areas in the three districts Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun. 
The project aims to strengthen selected competencies of service providers in the health sector in a gender-sensitive manner and capacities in emergency obstetric and neonatal care in selected health facilities. It also focuses on improving the quality assurance in health services, and strengthen the capacity of selected actors for epidemic prevention and response according to the One Health approach.
The development of training plans, the monitoring of the plans using the Integrated Human Resource Information System (iHRIS), and the implementation of trainings in the areas of obstetric and neonatal emergency care, digital, and pandemic prevention and One Health will contribute in strengthening the capacities of health staff. Focusing on obstetric and neonatal care, a mix of human capacity development measures (in-service trainings, mentoring and an internship programme) and several institutional capacity development measures concerning the availability of basic medical equipment as well as standard operating procedures, quality assurance processes and the referral system will be applied. Also, the development of a gender policy, including a policy against sexual harassment in the workplace, is being supported with the involvement of the relevant departments of the Ministry of Health as well as specialists and managers at various levels.
In addition, the project focuses on the quality assurance of health services, including gender-sensitive community participation by implementing integrated supported supervision digitally. The participation of the population in planning and through feedback mechanisms, including women, the poor and people with disabilities as well as analphabetic, promotes transparency and the needs-based orientation of health services. The capacity of selected actors for epidemic prevention and response according to the One Health approach in the partner districts will also be strengthened by the project. By engaging all One Health actors, including the authorities for human, livestock, and wildlife health, as well as local communities, cross-sectoral coordination, collaboration, and information sharing will be institutionalized in partner districts.
GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.
Zur Ermittlung des wirtschaftlichsten Bieters wird hier von der Vergabestelle die erreichte Gesamtpunktzahl nach fachlicher Wertung eingetragen. Es werden nur Angebote mit einer fachlichen Bewertung von über 500 Punkten gewertet. Fachliche Angebote mit weniger Punkten scheiden als fachlich ungeeignet aus.
The GIZ project "Health System Strengthening and Epidemic Prevention in Sierra Leone" has four outputs. The contract will comprise Output 2 which aims to strengthen capacities in emergency obstetric and neonatal care in selected health facilities in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun. This will be achieved by a need-based mix of human capacity development measures (in-service trainings, mentoring and internship programme) and several institutional capacity development measures concerning the availability of basic medical equipment as well as standard operating procedures, quality assurance processes and the referral system. 
A needs assessment for health facilities concerned will be conducted by GIZ before beginning of this contract. The contractor is to build on findings and ensure smooth continuation of activities under Output 2. The EmONC trainings will be conducted by trained trainers of the MoH, which will additionally be supported in the institutionalization of trainings as well as on improving the focus on competencies and women-centeredness of trainings.  The mentoring approach will build on previous mentoring programs supported in the previous project phase and will be further developed utilizing the already build up expertise in the districts. 
Additionally, selected staff of BEmONC centres will be able to intern at district hospitals, and the establishment and use of an additional skills lab per district increases the safety of staff in the delivery of services and thus their quality. Institutional capacities will be improved by the limited provision of priority basic medical equipment, and trainings on preventive maintenance to ensure long-term functionality of the equipment procured will be given. To ensure compliance with standards, quality management including the availability of work aides and standard operating procedures will be supported. 
As inappropriate referrals from basic health services and inadequate preparedness at secondary health services contribute significantly to the overall maternal and newborn mortality, the project supports the improvement of the referral system in each district.  As far as possible, other challenges in delivering adequate EmONC services, such as electricity and clean water supply or the availability of essential drugs, will be addressed by advising partners on possible solutions.
The contractor is responsible to strengthening the individual capacities of health care workers relating to EmONC in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun. More specifically, this refers to the implementation of EmONC-related trainings according to the EmONC trainings plan that is developed by the Ministry of health with support of the project under Output 1; 325 health care workers from 64 health facilities are to be trained. As part of the project, the trainers of the MoH are to be advised on competency-based and women-centered training implementation. The implemented EmONC in-service trainings are to be sustainably institutionalized in the 3 partner districts in close collaboration with MoH/Directorate for Human Resources and Directorate of Reproductive and Child Health and the DHMTs of Kambia, Pujehun and Kailahun. Trainings need to be documented in a gender-disaggregated manner and the contractor needs to report progress to GIZ regularly.

The contractor is also responsible for implementing a mentoring program on EmONC with 340 health care workers according to a mentoring system concept, and to support the institutionalization of the approach. For this, it is important to liaise with other development partners active in mentoring approaches. To implement the mentoring program, refresher trainings for existing mentors need to be conducted, or additional mentors need to be trained in the mentoring approach. Biannual mentoring visits need to be implemented from the district hospital to the BEmONC facilities, and from the BEmONC facilities to peripheral health facilities in the respective catchment area. Additionally, off-site follow-ups must be ensured. The contractor needs to conduct a baseline assessment with a documentation tool for the mentoring approach that will be used for progress assessment on a yearly basis. Midwives from the supported health facilities will also be supported with an internship programme where they spend time in the district hospital to improve their capacities in obstetric and neonatal care. 3 BEmONC skills labs will be established by the contractor and their regular use must be ensured. In addition, the health facilities will be supported with medical and non-medical equipment based on a previously conducted needs-assessment. The contractor will ensure the procurement and distribution of the equipment as well as proper training, and will make the managing, using, and adequate handling of the equipment a regular component of the mentoring sessions.

During the first mentoring visit information on the existing quality assurance approaches, such as e.g. availability of standard operating procedures (SOP), regular quality circles, feedback mechanisms etc. will be collected, and based on findings, an action plan to improve quality management for EmONC services in each district will be developed jointly with relevant national and district partners. The implementation of this plan will be supported as well as the uptake of feedback by the quality management of the health facility. In addition, information on existing referral practices will be collected during the first mentoring visit in order to develop a plan for improvement of the referral system; developed material will also be part of the mentoring programme. Beyond that, district and national partners relevant for the functionality of the referral system and provision of required resources will be advised on improving the referral system planning and management to ensure safe and timely transportation of mothers and newborns.


Winner: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Award value: 1728115
Number of bids: 4