By Sr. Otibhor Uwagbale, MMM

The MMM Mukuru Health Program is situated in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, a slum in Nairobi. We offer a wide range of services and almost all our clients/patients are residents from the slum where there is abject poverty and deplorable living conditions. Irrespective of our location, we have committed ourselves to guaranteeing the best quality service we can afford at our level. This means ensuring that our services are efficient, effective and up to date with government regulations. To this end, over the years, we have worked hard to ensure that the different recommended policies were put in place and regularly updated. We installed an Electronic Patient Management System to ensure that we have efficiency in the delivery of our services and safety of clients’ data. This also means that the waiting time of clients was cut by half. Of course, despite all these, we couldn’t have achieved this feat, without the dedication of our highly qualified and passionate staff who continuously challenge themselves to live daily the MMM core values in their relationships with each other and the clients.

In recognition of our efforts, the Kenyan Ministry of Health in 2017, selected MMM-Mukuru Health Program, as one of the facilities for training on the Kenyan Quality Model for Health (KQMH) in Nairobi County. This model is a conceptual framework for an Integrated Approach to improved quality of health care. It holistically and systematically addresses a range of organisational quality issues with the main aim of delivering positive health impacts.

After this training, we identified a Quality Improvement (QI) focal person and QI coach to lead. We formed departmental Work Improvement Teams (WIT) depending on service areas and Quality Improvement Team (QIT) to spearhead. We use the 6S model of Sort, Set, Shine, Standardise, Sustain, and Safety, during our WIT meetings to identify gaps and find ways to improve. The WIT and QIT meetings are held monthly.

MMM Mukuru’s journey into Quality Improvement Awards

After the training in 2017, MMM- Mukuru was selected to participate in the Health Service Delivery Award in the whole of Nairobi County in 2018. Some of the parameters for this competition includes: Leadership, Human Resources, Policies and Guidelines, Facility Infrastructure, Supplies management, Equipment management, Transport management, Referral System, Records & HMIS, Financial Management, Outpatient services, IPC (infection prevention and control), Laboratory, Pharmacy.

We competed with other facilities of Level 2 Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) in Nairobi County. We won 3rd position.

In 2019, we were also selected to participate in the same competition and we won 2nd position. Due to COVID19, the competition was not held in 2020 and 2021.

In 2022, our facility did not participate because we were still recovering from the effects of the demolitions that had happened to us.

This year, 2023, despite our challenges, we chose to participate in this year’s award and by the grace of God we emerged the WINNER – level 2 Faith Based Organization in Nairobi (1st position). We were awarded a Trophy and certificates.

We feel very fulfilled that our efforts to continue to provide quality healthcare to the people of Mukuru, through the provision of quality Health services guided by our MMM core values have been recognised by not just the people we serve, but also by the government of Nairobi County, Kenya.

We are forever grateful to God for bringing us this far. The journey was not easy but with determination and focus, we made it and we believe that this will only inspire us to do more.