An Independent Evaluation of the Quality Systems, Policies, Procedures and Activities of Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Sekondi, Ghana

Abstract

Health sector in Ghana has seen many major reforms and total quality care management is one of them. Its implementation has seen tremendous advantages in many health facilities but since change has always been revisited it has taken a considerable long time for the quality culture to be a norm and practice of health care staff but rather a bitter pill to swallow. Long waiting times, physical access, effectiveness, safety, equity and continuity of service are issues that need to be well managed by health care workers if better quality health care to our clients is to be achieved. The study conducted at Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH) provides an insight into the quality systems, policies and activities present there and what quality improvement strategies that need to be put in place to make the hospital a world class center. It is realized that ENRH adheres to the Quality manual of the Ghana Health Service but had partial functional Quality Teams and it was evident that quality initiatives is seen as the preserve of management. This study adopted a combination of both descriptive and exploratory research designs which allowed detailed description and analysis of the variables under study. Ninety-five (95) clients and forty-two (42) staff members were served with different questionnaire for in-depth interviews to ascertain the existence, the extent to which quality indicators are applied to the day to day health care in ENRH and the challenges and actionable steps being taken to help the facility move in the right direction. The findings indicate that although patients accessing the services of ENRH were on the whole satisfied with the quality of service provided, there were challenges that needed to be addressed in order to have a more effective and efficient service. Some of the issues that needed to be addressed included reduction of patients waiting time which they attributed some to genuine delays like emergencies and ward rounds while some delays were needless such as late arrival of doctors from their homes. Bad attitude of staff towards clients of the hospital which in a few instances stemmed from client/patients impatient attitude to staff.

Keywords: Health care, Total quality management, Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Simple random sampling. Ghana health service