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The UK's National Health Service (NHS) Consortium for Global
Health hosted a pivotal meeting with Ghana's National Health Insurance
Authority (NHIA) to enhance collaboration and drive mutual benefits between the
two institutions.
The meeting, held on August 20, 2024, at Canary Wharf,
London, aimed to explore a peer-to-peer collaboration offer from the
Consortium, focusing on key areas previously identified by the NHIA and
extensively discussed with the Consortium.
It was spearheaded by NHS Consortium’s Senior Lead, Kevin
Miles and Senior Health Systems Adviser, Emily Carey.
The collaboration seeks to leverage the NHS's expertise to
support the NHIA in improving Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS),
with a focus on strategic financing, capacity building, and data analytics.
It also aims to enhance the NHIA's approach to tariff
generation, resource allocation, and provider payment mix, as well as build
capacity in evidence-based decision making and economic evaluation.
Previous engagement
Building on previous engagements, including a study tour in
August 2023 and a reciprocal visit to Accra in July 2024, the meeting aimed to
facilitate more impactful projects that will enhance health systems and
services in Ghana.
The partnership will also support the expansion of the NHIS
to provide preventive and promotive services, including the development of
funding formulas and indicators to measure the implementation of annual health
checks.
The Consortium will share knowledge and training to
strengthen data analytics capacity, improve data governance, and enhance the
NHIS app.
Stakeholders engaged in in-depth discussions on improving
the healthcare system, drawing on expertise from NHS England.
Key discussions centered on strengthening data analytics
capacity, enhancing data tracking, governance, and visualisation.
Introduction
The meeting, which was well-attended by senior figures from
both organisations, also provided a chance for the new leadership of the NHIA
to be introduced to the NHS Consortium.
The NHIA delegation, led by Dr. Da-Costa Aboagye, Chief
Executive Officer, included Louisa Atta Agyemang (Mrs), Deputy Chief Executive,
Operations and Mr. Oswald Essuah-Mensah, Director of Corporate Affairs.
The others were Mrs. Eva Okai, Director, HR; Dr. Gustav
Cruickshank ,Director, Financial Accounting and Mr. Oti Frempong, Director,
Membership & Regional Operations
On the other hand, the NHS Consortium was also represented
by Kevin Miles, Emily Carey, and other experts such as Adrian Jonas and Tony
Perry.
Dr. Richard James, Health Adviser from FCDO London, was also
present to support the discussions.
Agenda
The agenda included presentations from senior members of
both organisations, detailed discussions on strategic topics, and opportunities
for networking and knowledge exchange.
The first major discussion of the day was led by Paul Healy,
Head of Strategic Financing at NHS England, who presented an overview of the
NHS's strategic financing model.
This session aimed to foster a deeper understanding of how
the NHS handles financing preventive and promotive interventions and explore
collaborative opportunities in this domain.
Emily Carey provided a summary of previous engagements
between the NHIA and the NHS Consortium, outlining key areas for collaboration,
particularly in strategic financing and data analytics, that were identified
through extensive discussions.
Overall, the meeting marked a significant step towards
strengthening Ghana's healthcare system, with the NHIA looking forward to a
fruitful partnership with the Consortium.
By: Doreen Andoh
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