| Abstract |
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) implemented the 2017 Service Availability and Readiness Assessment
(SARA) Plus which integrated a Data Quality Review (DQR) and Quality of Care (QoC) assessment of service delivery
at health facilities. The SARA Plus aimed to (i) determine the physical availability or presence of quality health services,
encompassing the health infrastructure, core health personnel and aspects of services utilization; and (ii) assess service
readiness, in terms of general service readiness and service-specific readiness.
The SARA Plus was conducted as a census of all health facilities in Sierra Leone. The DQR and the QoC assessment were conducted in a sample of 10% of the facilities (150 sites), proportionately selected to include facilities that offered antenatal care (ANC), delivery and newborn care, and HIV, malaria and TB care services.
First, the report covers the following categories of indicators:
1. General service availability and readiness
• Basic amenities
• Length of operation hours
• Basic and emergency equipment
• Standard precautions for infection control
• Diagnostic capacity
• Essential medicines
• Surgical management services
• Blood transfusion services
2. Service specific availability and readiness
• Maternal and child health
• HIV/AIDS
• Tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment
• Malaria services
• Rabies
• Dengue
• Chronic non-communicable diseases
• Sexually-transmitted infections
• Diabetes services
• Cardiovascular disease services
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Chronic kidney disease
• Cancer
• Mental health
• Care for the elderly
• Disability care
Second, findings from record reviews conducted for HIV testing, malaria services, ANC, delivery services and immediate
postpartum care for the newborn at an average of 82 facilities and for TB services at 42 facilities are also presented in this report.
Third, the report also presents findings from the Data Quality Review (DQR) which include the following set of indicators:
• Maternal health – number of ANC first visits
• Immunization – number of third dose pentavalent vaccinations
• HIV/AIDS – number of clients counselled and tested for HIV
• Tuberculosis - number of TB cases
• Malaria – number of confirmed malaria cases
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