Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon

Programme Overview

This five-day professional training programme provides district health officers, maternity ward supervisors, and health ministry technical leads with the competencies required to strengthen maternal and neonatal survival across decentralised health networks. Held in Lisbon, the course addresses the operational realities of peripheral health centres and regional hospitals. Participants examine standardised clinical referral pathways, triage protocols, and the practical organisation of obstetric emergency transport to reduce delays in life-saving care, particularly across rural and hard-to-reach districts.

The curriculum centres on clinical record auditing, maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response systems, and workforce deployment management. Delegates examine established World Health Organization standards for emergency obstetric and newborn care alongside practical supervisory methodologies. Through comparative analysis of district-level workflows, participants assess how routine obstetric care documentation, clinical governance structures, and evidence-based case reviews can systematically uncover systemic bottlenecks, resolve quality gaps, and prevent avoidable maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality.

Working through real-world operational challenges, participants formulate quality improvement action plans and district clinical oversight matrices tailored to resource-constrained environments. The programme equips technical officers to manage frontline health workers effectively, balance midwife deployment across rural health posts, and align district supervisory routines with national maternal health strategies. Attendees return to their institutions prepared to implement structured clinical audits, enforce referral discipline, and enhance the accountability of emergency obstetric and newborn care services.

Strengthening primary healthcare networks and emergency obstetric readiness is critical as governments and international development financiers advance major maternal and child health operations, such as the twenty-five million US dollar Guinea-Bissau Strengthening Maternal and Child Health Service Delivery project. Investments in rural health facilities, essential medicines, and medical equipment fail to translate into improved health outcomes without rigorous clinical governance, functional emergency transport pathways, and dependable referral protocols. Public health institutions require immediate capacity to monitor clinical practices, audit fatal outcomes systematically, and optimise workforce deployment to ensure high-quality care at every level of the maternal health delivery system.

Delivered by Risalat Consultants International in Lisbon, Portugal, it combines expert-led sessions, real cases and group work, so that participants can apply what they learn in their own institution.

The Programme Strengthens Institutional Capability

• International standards for emergency obstetric and newborn care: basic and comprehensive service models
• Mapping delays in maternal care: operationalising the Three Delays model in rural district networks
• Developing structured communication and early notification protocols between primary health posts and referral hospitals
• Organising district emergency transport mechanisms and managing intermediate stabilisation before patient transfer
• Standard operating procedures for obstetric triage, rapid emergency assessment, and treatment upon facility arrival
• Establishing baseline clinical documentation standards for antenatal admissions, labour, delivery, and postpartum wards
• Methodologies for conducting retrospective and prospective obstetric and neonatal medical record audits
• Assessing the completeness, quality, and clinical utility of partograph documentation during labour management
• Fraud risk assessment and fraud risk registers
• Design and testing of internal controls
• The Three Lines model and the role of oversight
• Audit planning, evidence and documentation

It is designed for district health officers and regional health directors managing maternal health networks, maternity ward supervisors and senior midwife managers from regional and district hospitals, ministry of public health technical leads responsible for reproductive and neonatal health and others who want practical, current skills in fraud, audit and internal control.

The Growing Importance of Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon

Public bodies and donor-financed projects are expected to show that funds are used for their intended purpose. Auditors, oversight bodies and financiers increasingly look beyond the financial statements to the controls, records and behaviours behind them.

Fraud and control weaknesses rarely come from one failure. They grow where roles are unclear, records are incomplete and warning signs are not followed up. Teams that understand how fraud happens, and how controls stop it, protect both their institution and the people it serves.

Organisations increasingly require professionals capable of:

• Identify and rate fraud and control risks in their own processes
• Design controls that are proportionate and testable
• Gather and document reliable audit evidence
• Recognise red flags early and escalate them correctly
• Turn findings into practical, agreed actions

Strong fraud, audit and internal control systems help organisations:

• Reduce losses and ineligible expenditure
• Pass external audits with fewer findings
• Strengthen trust with financiers and citizens
• Respond to allegations in a fair and documented way

This Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon programme brings these elements together in a practical format, so that participants understand not only what good practice looks like but also how to introduce it in their own setting, with the people and resources they have.

Who Should Attend This Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training?

This programme is designed for:

• District health officers and regional health directors managing maternal health networks
• Maternity ward supervisors and senior midwife managers from regional and district hospitals
• Ministry of public health technical leads responsible for reproductive and neonatal health
• Quality improvement coordinators in public hospital networks and health directorates
• Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response committee members
• Clinical supervisors overseeing peripheral and rural primary healthcare facilities
• Project coordinators and technical specialists managing donor-funded maternal health grants
• Health workforce planners tracking frontline midwife and clinical deployment in rural settings
• Monitoring and evaluation specialists focusing on maternal and neonatal health indicators
• Internal auditors and audit managers
• Finance managers and accountants
• Compliance and risk officers

The programme suits experienced professionals as well as those moving into new responsibilities. Groups that mix institutions and countries are encouraged, because participants learn a great deal from each other’s experience.

Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training, participants will be able to:

• Establish standardised maternal and neonatal referral pathways compliant with international emergency obstetric care frameworks
• Design rigorous clinical record audit systems to identify institutional gaps in obstetric and newborn care
• Implement World Health Organization Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response operational cycles
• Evaluate emergency triage, assessment, and treatment systems within peripheral and referral maternity wards
• Construct district-level workforce tracking models to optimise rural midwife allocation and emergency readiness
• Formulate operational quality improvement action plans to resolve identified bottlenecks in perinatal care
• Develop integrated district clinical oversight matrices to sustain regular supervisory visits and clinical governance
• Explain how and why fraud happens, using recognised fraud risk models
• Carry out a fraud and control risk assessment for a real process
• Map controls to risks using the Three Lines model

Each objective is practised during the programme through exercises, cases or group work, so that participants leave able to do it, not only to describe it.

Programme Contents and Structure

Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training Methodology

The training employs a participatory, adult-learning methodology grounded in real-world public health management. Participants engage in detailed case file reviews, practical clinical record auditing exercises, and simulations of Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response committee meetings. Daily sessions combine technical briefings with small-group discussions, structured gap analyses, and guided problem-solving tasks. Delegates use their own institutional contexts to construct operational tools, culminating in peer-reviewed action plans and clinical oversight matrices that can be immediately applied within their health authorities.

The programme combines:

• Expert-led sessions on current practice
• Regional and international case studies
• Group work and practical exercises
• Simulations and role plays where relevant
• Discussion of participants' own challenges
• Peer learning across institutions and countries
• Practical tools and templates to take back to work
• Daily reflection and action planning

Before the programme, a short pre-assessment helps the facilitators understand each participant’s role and priorities, so that examples and exercises can be adjusted to the group. Each day ends with a short reflection in which participants note what they will apply at work.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training, participants will be able to:

• Participants can design and operationalise standardised referral protocols between rural health facilities and district hospitals
• Participants can lead systematic clinical record audits to evaluate obstetric and neonatal care compliance against standards
• Participants can establish and run functional Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response review mechanisms
• Participants can map and track skilled midwife deployments across peripheral facilities to ensure continuous emergency coverage
• Participants can produce actionable, measurable quality improvement plans targeting specific clinical performance deficits
• Participants can implement a comprehensive district clinical oversight matrix to strengthen routine supervisory governance
• Assess fraud and control risks in their own processes
• Design and test proportionate controls

Participants leave with a personal action plan and practical tools they can use in their institution from the first week back. Institutions that send several participants can use the programme to agree shared methods and templates across teams, which makes improvements easier to sustain.

Institutional Application of Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training

This programme supports organisations in strengthening:

• Fraud and corruption risk management
• Internal control frameworks
• Audit and oversight arrangements
• Follow-up of audit findings
• Integrity and reporting channels

Participants return with practical tools to improve:

• Risk registers and control maps
• Audit planning and testing
• Evidence and documentation
• Reporting to management and boards
• Prevention of ineligible expenditure

The programme is built so that learning moves from the classroom into the institution. Participants work on their own processes and documents where possible, and leave with an action plan that their managers can review and support.

Regional Relevance & Application

Europe

European institutions apply fraud, audit and internal control within detailed regulatory frameworks and reform agendas. Participants from Europe can compare their practice with colleagues from other regions and test how established methods work under different conditions.

Africa

Across Africa, ministries, agencies and project teams working in fraud, audit and internal control increasingly operate alongside donor-financed programmes that expect clear systems and evidence. The programme helps participants adapt good practice to the institutions and resources they work with.

Middle East

In the Middle East, national development strategies and diversification plans place growing demands on fraud, audit and internal control. Participants explore how to build the capability these plans need inside public bodies and companies.

Asia

Institutions across Asia combine rapid growth with ambitious modernisation programmes. Participants from Asia can share their experience of scaling systems quickly and learn from approaches used elsewhere.

Pacific

Small island and Pacific states face particular constraints of size, distance and capacity. The programme highlights practical, proportionate approaches to fraud, audit and internal control that suit smaller institutions.

Holding the programme in Lisbon, Portugal brings participants together away from their daily pressures, so they can compare how fraud, audit and internal control is handled in different settings. The same programme can also be delivered in-house for one institution, in its own country or online, with cases taken from its current work.

Host Country Profile – Portugal

Training programmes and study tours in Lisbon suit professionals focusing on public sector governance, maritime affairs, renewable energy, and urban administration. Delegates attend from across Europe, North Africa, and Portuguese-speaking nations in Africa and South America.

Studying away from their own country gives participants time to focus, a fresh view of their own institution and the chance to build a network with colleagues from other countries.

Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training Deliverables

Participants receive support before, during and after the programme, so that preparation, learning and follow-up form one continuous experience.

Before the Programme

• Participant Pre-Assessment
• Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Readiness Assessment
• Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Resource Pack
• Preparatory Reading Materials
• Complimentary Visa Support & Advisory

During the Programme

• Airport Pickup & Welcome Assistance
• Accommodation with Breakfast
• Welcome Networking Dinner
• Risalat Training Kit (Bag, Bottle, Mug, T-Shirt, Cap, Passport Cover, Pens, Notebook, Magnet & Keychain)
• Comprehensive Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon Training Manual
• Fraud Risk Register Template
• Control Mapping Matrix
• Audit Evidence Checklist
• Findings and Follow-up Tracker
• Practical Workshops & Simulations
• Group Discussions & Peer Learning
• Daily Lunch and Refreshments
• Full Access to Training Venue Facilities
• Mini Pad / Tablet with Digital Learning Materials
• Field Visit (where applicable)
• Entertaining City Tour

After the Programme

• Certificate of Completion
• Risalat Programme Participation Recognition Award
• Post-Training Reference Materials
• Fraud Risk Self-Assessment Guide
• Control Testing Checklist
• Post-Training Support & Follow-Up Guidance
• Programme Report

Institutions can also request a tailored in-house version of this programme, delivered at their premises or online. Request a proposal.

Common Challenges in Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon, And How This Training Helps

How can institutions identify and rate fraud and control risks in their own processes?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Emergency Obstetric Referral Pathways and Network Design), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions design controls that are proportionate and testable?

The programme addresses this directly on the second day (Clinical Record Auditing and Documentation Standards), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions gather and document reliable audit evidence?

The programme addresses this directly on the third day (Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR)), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions recognise red flags early and escalate them correctly?

The programme addresses this directly on the fourth day (Midwife Deployment, Retention, and Rural Oversight), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions turn findings into practical, agreed actions?

The programme addresses this directly on the fifth day (Quality Improvement Plans and District Oversight Frameworks), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does the Maternal and Neonatal Referral Protocols and Obstetric Care Auditing in Lisbon programme take place?

It runs from 8 Nov 2027 to 12 Nov 2027, in Lisbon, Portugal. The registration deadline is shown at the top of this page.

Who should attend?

The programme is designed for district health officers and regional health directors managing maternal health networks, maternity ward supervisors and senior midwife managers from regional and district hospitals, ministry of public health technical leads responsible for reproductive and neonatal health, quality improvement coordinators in public hospital networks and health directorates, and others who want practical skills in fraud, audit and internal control.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. Participants who complete the programme receive a Certificate of Completion from Risalat Consultants International.

Can this programme be delivered for our institution only?

Yes. We can deliver a tailored in-house version at your premises, in another city or online, built around your own cases. Use the proposal request on this page.

Do I need prior experience in fraud, audit and internal control?

No specialist background is required beyond experience in a related role. A short pre-assessment helps the facilitators adapt the sessions to the group.

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