Effective policy management

Effective policy management

By Neema Kemunto (Principal Monitoring & Evaluation Officer)

Policies and procedure manuals are the heart of an organization that lay the foundation for operational excellence.

Policy and procedure are two terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, and while they do go hand in hand, they are not the same. But what is the difference between a policy and a procedure? Simply put, a policy is a guiding principle that gives the direction or basis for decisionmaking in an entire organization, a section of the organization, and down to every individual employee.

It simply indicates what needs to be done. A procedure, on the other hand, clearly gives the step-by-step outline of how to do what needs to be done. A good procedure document also gives the reason for doing things a certain way.

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has over the years developed over 32 policies to govern its operations in a bid to attain operational excellence in healthcare delivery. While this is highly commendable, the Hospital has in the past failed to meet the intended objectives due to a poor policy management system. This has been characterized by a weak policy enforcement system, disorganized or outdated policies and lack of policies where required.

To alleviate these challenges, the Hospital through the Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation department embarked on the process of developing and reviewing polices to enhance policy adoption, implementation and effectiveness, and to ensure the policies are up-to-date and relevant to the business environment the hospital operates in.

To this end, the Hospital has reviewed 17 policies and developed 5, and is in the process of reviewing and revising the outdated policies. This has been done in line with the formulated guidelines that govern the whole spectrum of policy management.

According to the Senior Director Corporate Services, Mr. Job Makanga, OGW, this was instigated by inconsistency in the style and format of the policies; poorly written policies, inaccessibility of the Policies by all staff and out of date policies. To avoid these and other hitches, Mr. Makanga added that it was necessary for the Hospital to activate a systematic look at its policy-management process.

“Effective policy management is necessary to enable governance, risk management, and compliance at every level in the Hospital. To ensure effective policy management, the Hospital has undertaken measures in creating, communicating, managing and maintaining policies, to ensure the gap between those who set the policies and the employees who are expected to know and follow these policies is bridged,” stated Mr. Makanga.

In its quest to streamline the policy management system, the Hospital through the Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation department has developed a Hospital-wide Policy Management Guideline that provides a clear roadmap on the formulation, implementation, monitoring and Evaluation of Hospitalwide policies.

This will ensure policies conform to consistent writing style and language, and are clearly written and understood. “All hospital Policies shall be developed under the guidance of the Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Department using the standard policy format,” said Mr. Felix Kilumbi, Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation.

He added that using a standard format for all hospital policies will make it easier for staff to read and retain information, as well as scan the documents later for specific guidelines and rules. Having policies centrally developed, monitored and evaluated at the department will circumvent the challenge of opposing policies emerging from various departments.

To achieve effective policy management, it is vital that all the hospital policies are accessible to employees at all levels of the hospital, and readily available for them to interact with. To this end, the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department has developed a database of the Hospital policies that will be integrated in the Hospital repository. This will ensure employees never have to guess where to look for information. New employees will be required to read, comprehend and sign up the key hospital policies upon recruitment.

Increasing Awareness of our policies and regulations across the Hospital through regular policy expositions is another step that the hospital has undertaken towards effective policy management. In this Financial Year 2022/2023, the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department has held two policy expositions in the 1st and 2nd quarter respectively.

The virtual sessions have seen 10 policy presentations which are; Admission and discharge, Credit, AntiCorruption and Whistle blowing, Housing, Equipment and Machinery, Marketing and Communication, Road Safety Mainstreaming, Disability Mainstreaming and Security and Safety being presented.

Monitoring and Evaluating policy compliance is a step that the hospital has undertaken to ensure compliance, manage risk and protect the Hospital from Litigation.

The Hospital has included the implementation matrix and M&E Framework in the Policies to aid in the monitoring of the polices compliance and hold employees accountable while providing a direction for decisions. Quarterly reporting of policy implementation status to Executive Management Committee for review and further decision making will begin in the third quarter.

In addition, the Hospital will be carrying out Policy impact evaluations to establish as to whether the policies are meeting the set goals and objectives. With effective policy management, KNH will be on track to being a world class patient-centered specialized care hospital