Malawi - First Impressions

I expected challenges. More than that, I wanted challenges. And three weeks in, I've had everything.

Two clients undergoing a procedure at our outreach sites were subsequently admitted to hospital, prompting what's referred to as 'major complication investigations' to establish whether the admission to hospital was linked to the procedure we performed, and whether or not our clinicians performed the procedure correctly. It's inevitable that a medical providers will have some reports of major complications and our complication rates are significantly lower than other providers, but nonetheless it's not taken lightly. There have been three burglaries which have left the clinics wrecked and disrupted services. This on top of a mountain of more systematic issues across the clinics, outreach, warehouse, procurement and fleet. Issues which are completely understandable given the fact they've effectively had no Operations Director for 2 years. 

Exhausted as I am, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Being back in the field doing hands on work, learning about something new, leading and managing a team again. And despite the issues, I can see enormous potential now we're in a position to invest some time and energy in managing the team and putting some systems in place. Already you can see the changes as people respond to having some support, direction and monitoring. Will three months be enough though? Not for the organisation, and not for me!