Assessing service quality in Ghana’s public hospitals: evidence from Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions

Self-reported continuing professional development needs of medical laboratory professionals in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Because of the essential nature of the work of medical laboratory professionals, continuing development in knowledge and skills is indispensable. The study aimed at identifying and prioritizing the development and training needs of medical laboratory professionals in Ghana. This is expected to help in developing focused continuing professional development (CPD) that meets the needs of practitioners as well as the changing medical trends.

METHODS

An online cross-sectional survey in February 2022 using a structured questionnaire was conducted. Respondents were asked questions that collected demographic and work-related data about them, their participation, preference, and challenges in being part of CPDs. Finally, a list of topics based on (i) quality management systems, (ii) technical competence, (iii) laboratory management, leadership, and coaching, (iv) pathophysiology, and (iv) data interpretation and research were asked with the option to rate them on a 3-point scale (most, moderate, and least) in order of importance.

RESULTS

A total of 316 medical laboratory professionals participated in the study. Overall, the most frequently selected topics for training based on domains for CPD training and ranking as most important were (i) quality management systems, (mean = 80.59 ± 9.024; 95% CI = 73.04-88.13); (ii) pathophysiology, data interpretation, and research (mean = 78.0 ± 6.973; 95% CI = 73.97-82.03); (iii) technical competence (mean = 73.97 ± 10.65; 95% CI = 66.35-81.59); and (iv) laboratory management, leadership, and coaching (mean = 72.82 ± 9.719; 95% CI = 67.44-78.2). The factors affecting the choice of training needs included the medical laboratory professionals' current place of work, years in service, the reason for attending CPD activities, the period for attending the last CPD, being in a supervisory role, and the number of staff being supervised. Face-to-face presentations, training workshops, and hands-on workshops were the most preferred modes of CPD delivery with financial implications and workload/time constraints being the main challenges impeding CPD participation.

CONCLUSION

The identified needs will help in developing CPD programs that address what medical laboratory professionals prioritize as training needs. Stakeholders should incorporate these training needs into future programs and address the challenges highlighted in this study to have more relevant training for medical laboratory professionals.

Exploring the Relationship Between Hospital Service Quality, Patient Trust, and Loyalty From a Service Encounter Perspective in Elderly With Chronic Diseases

Based on the service encounter perspective, this study combines theoretical foundations for such factors as service quality and the characteristics of the hospital service industry to develop a research model scale to investigate whether the quality of hospital services affects patients' perceptions of health service encounters, trust, and loyalty. Nowadays, with the advancement of medical technology, patients pay more attention to the quality of medical services and good service encounters provided by healthcare professionals in order to establish positive patient relationships; hospitals need to improve their own service quality and establish good patient trust relationships so that doctor-patient satisfaction and loyalty can be improved. In a review of related literature, this study found that most past studies focused on issues related of quality of medical services and patient satisfaction, but ignored those related to the relationship between medical service encounters and patient trust and loyalty, as well as the lack of scientific measurement markers for service encounters in the Chinese medical service industry. Therefore, this study uses the Service Encounter Perspective and Service Quality Theory Development Research Scale to collect and analyze data for a typical case of a Chinese tertiary hospital. Finally, this study explores the relationship between the four variables of service quality, service encounter, trust, and loyalty by means of a questionnaire and statistical analysis of the data. Finally, it is concluded that the higher the service quality of the hospital, the higher the customer trust, the higher the service encounter, and in the greater the doctor-patient loyalty.

A multidimensional study of public satisfaction with the healthcare system: a mixed-method inquiry in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Many governments in sub-Saharan Africa have recently sought to improve their health systems by increasing investment in healthcare facilities and introducing social insurance programmes. However, little is known about the impact of these intended improvements on public perceptions about the healthcare systems. This article examines whether and why people of different socioeconomic and ideological backgrounds are satisfied (or not) with the current healthcare system in Ghana from a social ecological perspective.

METHOD

Data were elicited from a cross-sectional mixed-method study conducted in four regions in Ghana in 2018. We used ordinal logistic regression and thematic analysis techniques to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Satisfaction with the healthcare system was generally low. From our quantitative study, intrapersonal factors (e.g., being older and having good health and well-being status); interpersonal factors (e.g., linking social capital); community factors (e.g., living in rural areas); and organisational and public policy factors (e.g., trust in the health system, favouring welfare policies, and being interested in politics) were positively associated with satisfaction with the healthcare system. These were corroborated by the qualitative study, which showed that poor attitudes of health personnel, financial constraints, perceived poor health facilities, and perceived inefficacy of services contribute to dissatisfaction with the healthcare system.

CONCLUSION

Strategies to improve satisfaction with the healthcare system in Ghana should incorporate ecological perspectives by considering factors such as demographic profile, health needs, political orientation, issues of trust in the healthcare system, and the dynamics and impact of social relationships of populations concerned.

Patients' perceptions of healthcare quality in Ghana

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of service quality (SQ), customer satisfaction (CS) and customer loyalty (CL) in Ghana's health sector and a comparative analysis of private and public hospital SQ.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A convenient sample of 1,236 respondents was generated from both private and public hospitals. The study utilises an asymptotic distribution free estimation technique in CB-SEM using LISREL to test the relationships, while Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test was used to determine the differences in SQ performances between private and public hospitals.

FINDINGS

The study found a significant positive relationship between SQ and CS. Also, the study found a significant positive relationship between CS and CL. Finally, SQ was found to be better in private hospitals, resulting higher CS and CL.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

The study highlights the significant role SQ plays in generating CS and CL to guide healthcare provider policy decision making to improve healthcare delivery. It also serves as a guide to patients to make informed decisions regarding the choice of alternative hospitals.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

The study provides a useful guide to strategy and policy formulation in the healthcare sector by exploring the potential viability of SERVQUAL-related model as a relevant tool for assessing SQ in Ghana's health sector. The results also identified SQ gap between private and public hospitals and thus have implications on how hospitals should strategise to improve their SQ.