19.1 Supervision

Supervision is the key element of TB control and is considered a cornerstone for sustainability of different NTP activities. Supportive supervision is the process of helping people to improve their performance in order to meet the desired target and objectives. Supervision is the part of monitoring that looks at the job performance of the people in the programme.

All health workers need support to solve problems and overcome difficulties. They need constructive feedback on their performance and encouragement for their work. Supervision will encourage, motivate, train, support, monitor, guide and boost staff morale. It is a set of activities to improve staff competence, effectiveness and efficiency of work through observation, discussion, technical support, demonstration and record reviews. The focus of supervisory visits is on-the-job training, coaching, mentoring, coordination, motivation, facilitation and guidance in implementation of the activities as per NTP guidelines with the overall objective to achieve national targets and goals.

Supervisory visits are planned with the following aims:

To ensure effective implementation.
To provide technical guidance and administrative support.
To cross-check and validate reported data.
To review the bottlenecks in implementation and take corrective measures wherever required.
To ensure patient and staff satisfaction
To strengthen the relationship between the central, intermediate and peripheral levels and the implementing staff