Lesson 11: Setting priorities

The detailed situation analysis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) services in Ormo district (see week 2) generates a wide range of recommendations and insights on activities that need to be initiated, improved or discontinued. However, on a practical level everything cannot be done at the same time!
Priority setting is an important part of the planning process which follows on after the situation analysis has taken place. It is essential to reach a consensus on what needs to be done and what can be done within the local context. This needs to be agreed amongst the stakeholders and supported with appropriate investments.

Prioritising DR activities in Ormo

To strengthen DR services in Ormo, the key priorities for the prevention, early detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy needed to be agreed. In the first instance, the stakeholders decided to agree on what needed to be done over the next two years. Based on recommendations from the situation a list of key activities was generated and each one was further considered and prioritised using the following scoring system:

Table: Stakeholder consensus on the key priorities for developing Ormo DR
services

Setting the strategy in Ormo

Once the stakeholders have agreed what must be done to develop DR services in Ormo over the next 2 years, they then decide:

• Who will take charge of ensuring that each activity is completed and by when?
• What is the detailed cost of accomplishing each activity?

To help finalise the plan a timeframe and budget for each activity is also agreed. Ongoing commitment from stakeholders is essential to deliver any plan. What are the likely concerns for stakeholders about this plan to develop DR services in Ormo, and how can they be minimised? You may prefer to use your own setting instead.