On May 10, 2023, the Children’s Medical Foundation conducted the final evaluation of the County Neonatal Care Unit Program (CNCU) in Sichuan Province. The aim was to promote remarkable achievements in the CNCU in Sichuan Province.
Location| Jinyang County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province
The Final Evaluation is led by Prof. Ying WANG from the School of Public Health at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The evaluation team will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the final outcomes of the Children’s Medical Foundation’s CNCU program implemented in county hospitals in Bazhong, Dazhou, Ya’an, Mianyang, and Liangshan regions of Sichuan Province. The expert team is divided into three groups, each led by renowned prof. Ying WANG, prof. Qingwen XIE, and prof. Xiaowei MO. They will utilize their extensive professional knowledge and experience to conduct in-depth research on various aspects of the program, providing a comprehensive and objective evaluation from multiple perspectives such as strategy effectiveness, sustainability, replicability, and cost-effectiveness.
In 2019, the Children’s Medical Foundation initiated the CNCU program in Bazhong, Dazhou, Ya’an, Mianyang, and Liangshan regions of Sichuan Province, involving 21 county-level hospitals. During the one-year implementation period, we sent one doctor and one nurse from each hospital to Sichuan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital for a six-month specialized training program for neonatal care. The objective was to provide comprehensive enhancement of professional knowledge and skills to medical and nursing staff, enabling them to better respond to the challenges of neonatal care. Throughout the training, the participants gained in-depth understanding of the latest treatment methods and advanced medical technologies through practical case studies, technical demonstrations, and team discussions.
In addition to training, the Children’s Medical Foundation provided equipment donations to each program hospital to ensure they have advanced medical equipment and tools for timely and effective resuscitation and treatment. This measure aims to provide better working conditions for local medical staff while improving the success rate of neonatal care and effectively reducing the likelihood of tragedies occurring.
The purpose of this final evaluation is to comprehensively understand the development status of the program hospitals and the implementation effectiveness of the CNCU program. The experts delved into the program hospitals and assessed their achievements in neonatal care capacity-building from multiple dimensions. They meticulously examined the hospital’s facilities and equipment, the professional capabilities and teamwork of the medical staff, as well as the quality and coverage of healthcare services. Special emphasis will be placed on evaluating the hospital’s efforts in personnel training, technological innovation, and equipment investment, and assessing the positive impact they have had on CNCU program.
Through the final evaluation, we found that each program hospital has made significant improvements in the development of neonatal care. In terms of training, medical staff have gained updated and specialized knowledge and skills through specialized training, enhancing their abilities and levels of neonatal care. In terms of equipment provision, the equipment donations from the Children’s Medical Foundation have addressed the issue of inadequate hardware facilities, providing modern medical equipment to the hospitals and effectively supporting neonatal resuscitation and treatment. The efforts of the hospitals in the construction of neonatal intensive care units have also been recognized, providing a safe and comfortable environment and better care and treatment conditions for newborns.
The final evaluation results indicate that the hospitals have made remarkable progress in the development of neonatal care, enhancing the overall level of medical care and service quality. This not only has a positive impact on the health of local residents but also provides valuable experience and references for the promotion of CNCU program in other regions.