About HEART Consultancy

After the user training at St. Mary’s children and Community Hospital, Umuowa, Nigeria. 2016-10-30. After the examination the tension is gone. Everybody enjoys!

HEART Consultancy is a specialized consulting agency in the field of sterilization of medical supplies. The second area of expertise is  planning and management of physical assets in the health sector.  HEART Consultacy is focusing on the health services in low-income countries.

Jan Huijs has a great number of years of experience in the field in a wide range of countries on the Sub-Saharan African continent. Also projects in several countries in Asia and the Middle East were done. This map shows the countries were courses on sterile supply were presented.

Through this experience Jan can offer advice in the various aspects related to sterilization of medical supplies and the planning and management of assets, appropriate to the needs of health institutions in low-income countries. The activities include consultancies, field studies, publications, training and software development. The emphasis of his activities are related to

● Sterilization of Medical Supplies

Kumba, Cameroon. 2008-04-02: User training: Getting familiar with the operation of the autoclave	Training of staff Conducting of courses for users of sterilization equipment. They may be managers of the sterilization department or the staff actually involved reprocessing of goods to sterilized. Average course duration: 1 week. Conducting courses for technicians responsible for the repair and maintenance of sterilization quipment. Average duration one week. Contribute in educational workshops on sterile supply for various companies and hospitals This map shows where training on sterile supply has been presented.
	Creation of training material related to sterile supply Compiling and publishing training materials and textbooks. The textbook is available in most major languages. Developing a set of teaching aids for education in sterile supply Assisting in creating an e-learning environment for sterile services personnel Production of educational videos on sterile supplies; with focus on rural health facilities in Africa
	Assisting in the installation, commissioning, repair and maintenance of sterilization equipment Planning/(re)designing the sterilization department Installing new sterilization equipment Maintenance and repair of equipment in the sterilization department Performance testing/commissioning of equipment in the sterilization department
	Research Research for improvement of processes and protocols Research on developing and subsequent producing sterilizers appropriate for use health facilities with very limited resources
	Consultancy/assessment/field visits Advice on the design and equipping of the sterilization department Assisting in selection, procurement, installation, maintenance and repairs of equipment for the sterilization department
RCA-Bangui Plage 20091108 Bateau Sur Fleuve	Publications; presentations Writing/publishing articles on experiences related to sterile supply in various journals Presentations/lectures on sterile supply with focus on developing world Reporting on the fascinating experiences during the field visits to the variouse locations in Travelling stories

● Planning and management of assets within the health sector; with focus on low-income countries

In the past, HEART consultancy has been involved in a range of activities in relation to planning and management of asses within the health sector.
However since 2015 the focus has been on sterilization of medical supplies.

Training on the use of the PLAMAHS asset management system  PLAMAHS Inventory Form

Activities related to sterilization of medical supplies Assisting in formulating and implementing a medical equipment policy Development of equipment standards Planning, performing and analysis of equipment surveys Preparation of tender documents and evaluation of tenders related to medical equipment Development of a computerized tool for Planning and Management of Assets in the Health Service (PLAMAHS). See a description here. For an overview of features of several versions click here Planning, establishing and monitoring of organizational structures for maintenance and repair of equipment

Jan Huijs: initiator and owner of HEART Consultancy

Jan Huijs enjoying spring time

Jan Huijs, initiator and owner of HEART Consultancy, is based in the Netherlands. After working as a medical equipment engineer in Ghana, Africa for 7 years in the 1980’s he started HEART Consultancy, a consulting agency focusing on sterilisation of medical supplies and asset management for health facilities, focusing on the health services in the developing world. He presents training for users as well as technicians on sterilization of medical supplies in mainly developing countries since 1997. He is author of the book “Sterilization of medical supplies by steam” which now has been translated into 9 languages. He has been doing research on sterilization of medical supplies in remote areas.
Since 2014 he is honorary member of SVN: Sterilisatie Vereniging Nederland, (Dutch Sterilization Association).

Logo of HEART Consultancy

HEART is an acronym for Healthcare through Appropriate and Reliable Technology. In the logo is a turtle with a heart. Jan is married to Yoko Watanuki, from Kyushu, Japan (1988, in Donyina, Ghana!). In Japanese culture the turtle is a symbol for happines and long life. The turtle is slow but it ultimately it will reach its goal. In many projects, also in the developing world are confined to stringent time and budgetary constraints. So often we see that when the project period is over the project support has to be abandoned. In many cases the time frame for projects is very short, not feasible for well handing over the and sustaining the activities on the long term. In the projects we are involved in we are trying to provide the time required to perform an adequate job. This for example includes proposals for adequate training when equipment is procured and to considere the local situation with often specific requirements when making choices.  The heart in the turtle symbolizes the agency’s name but more important it symbolizes the intention with which it wants to perform its activities: with full heart and soul!