Assessing efficient cold chain management practices in the health sector and its impact on service delivery in ghana: a study of komfo anokye teaching hospital, kumasi docx
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- 2.2.5.1 Waiting Time
| 2.2.5 Healthcare Service Delivery The part of a health system where patients receive the care and supplies to which they are entitled is service delivery. WHO posited that access to timely, acceptable, affordable, and high-quality healthcare is a fundamental right of every human being (Mohamoud and Mash. Good service delivery contributes significantly to the health of the population, along with other factors such as social determinants of health (WHO, 2010). Service delivery is the immediate result of the health system’s inputs, such as the health personnel, procurement of supplies, and financing. Therefore, it is expected that increased inputs would lead to better service delivery and better access to services (WHO, 2010). However, providing quality healthcare in areas with limited human and financial resources is difficult. For example, in low-resource settings, health professionals may have limited access to training and reference 24 materials, as well as poor communication mechanisms for expert or supervisor feedback, which can impede the quality of health services they can give to patients (Orton et al., Good service delivery is therefore essential in any health system. WHO (2010) outlined eight) key characteristics of good service delivery in a health system. These include comprehensiveness, accessibility, coverage, continuity, quality, person-centredness, coordination, accountability, and efficiency. This study presents three (3) aspects of service delivery in healthcare, consolidating each of the dimensions propounded by WHO (2010). 2.2.5.1 Waiting Time The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized patient waiting time as a critical indicator of an efficient healthcare system (Sun et al., 2017). It is one of the benchmarks used to measure the efficiency of healthcare service delivery in healthcare institutions (Wanyenze et al., 2010). According to Sun et al. (2017), every patient deserves access to timely and convenient healthcare in a well-designed healthcare system. Waiting time for patients seeking care at healthcare facilities is the length of time it takes before patients are seen for consultation and treatment (Valentine et al., 2003; Silva, 2010). During their interactions with healthcare systems, patients must wait at multiple points (McIntyre and Chow, According to McIntyre and Chow (2020), waiting time encompasses when patients wait at home for an initial healthcare provider appointment, diagnosis, or an elective procedure, and time spent in waiting rooms when patients access healthcare facilities. Access to and engagement in the healthcare delivery system is hampered by long waiting times (McIntyre and Chow, 2020). One possibility is that patients would endure longer waiting times for care as the strain on global healthcare systems grows (McIntyre and Chow, 2020). Nonetheless, patients should not have to wait long periods for appointments and consultations in a well-designed healthcare service delivery system. Patient dissatisfaction has long been linked 25 to the lengthy waiting time (Pitrou et al., 2009; Preyde et al., 2012; Michael et al., 2013; Katre, 2014), which is a major source of frustration for patients (Sun et al., 2017). According to Huang (1994), patients were satisfied if they had to wait no longer than 37 minutes when they arrived on time. Similarly, in the United Kingdom (UK, the Patient’s Charter government set some regulations requiring all patients to be seen within 30 minutes of their scheduled appointment time (Harper, 2003; Sun et al., 2017). Patients would usually prefer to spend less time (i.e., between 30 and 45 minutes) and attain satisfaction however, this is not always the casein most hospitals in Ghana (Appiah, 2019). Appiah (2019) asserted that waiting times at the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) are quite long, with most patients spending more than two hours there. The most common reasons for the delays were heavy workload, a high number of patients requiring care, and patients arriving late to the unit. Download 0.5 Mb. Share with your friends:
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