Barriers to Quality Care in Medical Imaging at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: Staff Perspective.

BACKGROUND: The goal of quality care is to ensure that the health care services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. However, as medical imaging services increase in Ghana, empirical evidence show a low level of care. Despite this, there exists no study in the public domain on the barriers to quality care. This study, therefore, sought to identify barriers to quality care in medical imaging at a teaching hospital to provide evidence that will enable optimization of care and in improving the overall medical imaging care delivery system. METHODS: This research was a descriptive, cross-sectional study using a mixed method approach based on the dimensions of quality of care of medical imaging services from medical imaging professionals' perspective: capacity and sustainability, timeliness, safety, equity, patient-centeredness, effective communication, and appropriateness of examination. QUANTITATIVE METHOD: A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used. The study population included all medical imaging professionals (n = 47) at the imaging department of the hospital. However, a total of 36 agreed to participate in the study. Data were analyzed using Stata Version 13. Descriptive analyses were carried out. QUALITATIVE METHODS: Purposive sampling strategy was applied to recruit 12 management team members and key staff with vast experience in medical imaging for the study. Data collection was done using a reflective in-depth interview guide. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. QUANTITATIVE RESULTS: The quantitative findings show more than half of the respondents (n = 23, 63.9%) currently play supervisory roles, 10 (27.8%) work more than 40 hours a week, a minority group (n = 7, 19.4%) examine more than 100 patients per week, and 21 (58.5%) reported quality improvement programs are not carried out. Overall, half (50.0%) of the respondents are unaware of the availability of standard operating procedures, 28 (77.7%) reported imaging machines are not always functional, 34 (94.5%) reported lack of adherence to equipment servicing practices, and 27 (75%) agreed that broken-down equipment are left for more than 3 months before being fixed. In addition, 26 respondents (80.5%) reported staff number is inadequate compared with the workload, whereas only 11 (30.6%) stated supervision by management is adequate. Furthermore, 12 respondents (33.4%) reported management seem interested in quality of care only after adverse event, only 5 (38.5%) of the radiologists stated they are able to meet image reporting deadlines for clients, and only 8 (22.2%) of the respondents reported the availability of means of communicating results to referring clinicians aside the normal report. QUALITATIVE RESULTS: The qualitative findings show a lack of commitment to equipment servicing, frequent nonfunctionality of imaging machines, and an undue delay in repairs of broken-down machines. In addition, there exists inadequate human resource, inadequate supervision, a lack of quality improvement programs, and educational advancement opportunities for staff. The findings further show inadequacy of hospital gowns for patients, a lack of equity, and a poor organizational culture. In addition, the study identified a lack of means of communicating urgent imaging findings and a lack of promptness and timeliness to care from the consultant radiologists. CONCLUSION: The low level of care of medical imaging services observed in Ghana is reflected in the large number of barriers to quality care identified in this study. Most barriers identified are in the capacity and sustainability, timeliness, and effective communication dimensions of quality of care. The findings have important implications for policy makers. Improvement in these areas will enable optimization of care and in improving the overall medical imaging care delivery system.

Quality of Care of Medical Imaging Services at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: Clients' Perspective.

BACKGROUND: The Ministry of Health of Ghana is committed to delivering client-focused, quality-driven, and results-oriented medical imaging services. However, there remained a lack of empirical evidence regarding the state of the various dimensions of quality needed to establish evidence-based strategies to strengthen the medical imaging system. This study assessed the quality of care of medical imaging services from clients' perspective at a teaching hospital in order to inform policy. METHODS: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study using a mixed method approach based on the dimensions of quality of care in medical imaging: capacity and sustainability, timeliness, safety, equity, patient centeredness, and effective communication. QUANTITATIVE METHOD: A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used. A total of 191 clients aged ≥18 years were recruited during medical imaging services at the imaging department of the hospital. A simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. Data were analyzed using Stata version 13. Descriptive analyses were carried out. QUALITATIVE METHODS: Purposive sampling strategy was applied to recruit 12 in-depth interview participants. Reflective interview guide starting with demographic characteristics and followed by the dimensions of quality of care was used. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. QUANTITATIVE RESULTS: Overall, there is low quality of care 2.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.6). There is low quality with regards to timeliness 2.8 (SD = 0.4), patient centeredness 2.7 (SD = 0.7), equity 2.8 (SD = 0.2), effective communication 2.7 (SD = 0.7), and safety 2.5 (SD = 0.3). Quality of care in relation to capacity and sustainability is high 3.4 (0.6). Only 73 (38.2%) of the clients are currently satisfied with the quality of care, and only 39.8% will recommend others to access care at the imaging department. Only 66 (34.6%) of clients are of the view that staff behavior instills confidence. QUALITATIVE RESULTS: The qualitative study shows a lack of equity, timeliness, and patient-centeredness in terms of care and privacy. There is a perceived lack of compliance with radiation protection protocols, and there exist wide communication gaps between clients and staff. Furthermore, there is a lack of capacity and sustainability in relation to the reliability and availability of functional equipment. There is, however, high appraisal from clients regarding the neatness and availability of staff. CONCLUSION: A majority of clients are not satisfied with the quality of care of the medical imaging services. Improved interaction with clients, availability of functional equipment, and effective communication during the care process between the patients and the imaging professionals such as provision of timely information during the waiting period and explanation of procedure will help enhance the quality of care.

Willing but unable? Extending theory to investigate community capacity to participate in Ghana's community-based health planning and service implementation.

While primary health care programmes based on community participation are widely implemented in low- and middle- income settings, empirical evidence on whether and to what extent local people have the capacity to participate, support and drive such programmes scale up is scant in these countries. This paper assessed the level of community capacity to participate in one such programme - the Community-Based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) in Ghana. The capacity assessments were drawn from Chaskin's (2001) theorised indicators of community capacity with modifications to include: sense of community; community members commitment; community leadership commitment; problem solving mechanisms; and access to resources. These capacity measures guided the design of an interview guide used to collect data from community informants, frontline health providers (FLP) and district health managers. Key qualitative themes were built into a questionnaire administered to households selected through systematic sampling approach. Findings showed that growing individualism, low trust in neighbours and apathetic behaviours undermined the capacity of mutual support for CHPS. The capacity to support CHPS was high for local leadership and community social mobilisation groups who often dedicated time to working with FLP to promote maternal and reproductive health service use, and in advocating broader support for CHPS. Within the wider community, commitment to voluntarism was low as members perceived CHPS to be owned by, and run on government funds and resources. Poor voluntarism was compounded by poverty that crippled the capacity to provide needed resource support for CHPS. Findings have great implications for building strong capable communities for participation in community oriented health programmes.

Ghana's community-based primary health care: Why women and children are 'disadvantaged' by its implementation.

Policy analysis on why women and children in low- and middle-income settings are still disadvantaged by access to appropriate care despite Primary Health Care (PHC) programmes implementation is limited. Drawing on the street-level bureaucracy theory, we explored how and why frontline providers (FLP) actions on their own and in interaction with health system factors shape Ghana's community-based PHC implementation to the disadvantage of women and children accessing and using health services. This was a qualitative study conducted in 4 communities drawn from rural and urban districts of the Upper West region. Data were collected from 8 focus group discussions with community informants, 73 in-depth interviews with clients, 13 in-depth interviews with district health managers and FLP, and observations. Data were recorded, transcribed and coded deductively and inductively for themes with the aid of Nvivo 11 software. Findings showed that apart from FLP frequent lateness to, and absenteeism from work, that affected care seeking for children, their exercise of discretionary power in determining children who deserve care over others had ripple effects: families experienced financial hardships in seeking alternative care for children, and avoided that by managing symptoms with care provided in non-traditional spaces. FLP adverse behaviours were driven by weak implementation structures embedded in the district health systems. Basic obstetric facilities such as labour room, infusion stand, and beds for deliveries, detention and palpation were lacking prompting FLP to cope by conducting deliveries using a patchwork of improvised delivery methods which worked out to encourage unassisted home deliveries. Perceived poor conditions of service weakened FLP commitment to quality maternal and child care delivery. Findings suggest the need for strategies to induce behaviour change in FLP, strengthen district administrative structures, and improve on the supply chain and logistics system to address gaps in CHPS maternal and child care delivery.

Erratum to: Pathways to psychiatric care for mental disorders: a retrospective study of patients seeking mental health services at a public psychiatric facility in Ghana.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13033-016-0095-1.].

Pathways to psychiatric care for mental disorders: a retrospective study of patients seeking mental health services at a public psychiatric facility in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: The process to seek for care by patients who experience episodes of mental disorders may determine how and where they receive the needed treatment. This study aimed to understand the pathways that people with mental disorders traversed for psychiatric services, particularly where these individuals will first seek treatment and the factors that influence such pathways to mental health care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted at Pantang psychiatric hospital in Accra, Ghana involving 107 patients of ages 18 and older and their family members. The study adapted the World Health Organization's (WHO) pathway encounter form to collect information about patients' pathway contacts for psychiatric care. Chi Square test was done to determine patients' first point of contact and any association between the independent variables (clinical diagnosis and socio-demographic factors) and first pathway contact. Multiple regression analyses were also done to estimate the odds of patients' first pathway contact. RESULTS: Overall, nearly 48 % of patients initially contacted non-psychiatric treatment centers (faith-based, traditional healers and general medical practitioners) as their first point of contact for treatment of mental disorders. A little more than half of the patients went directly to the formal public psychiatric facility as their first point of contact for care of their mental disorders. Patients' occupation was significantly associated with their first point of contact for psychiatric care (χ2 = 6.91; p < 0.033). Those with secondary education were less likely to initially seek care from the formal public psychiatric hospital compared to those with no formal education (uOR = 0.86; 95 % CI 0.18-4.08). CONCLUSION: Patients used different pathways to seek psychiatric care, namely direct pathway to a psychiatric hospital or through transition from informal non-psychiatric service providers. Since nearly half of patients do not initially seek mental health care directly at the formal psychiatric facility, it is important for the government of Ghana to increase funding to the mental health authorities in Ghana as a matter of priority so that more individuals can be identified and integrated into mainstream psychiatric treatment and general health facilities where there are trained Community Mental Health Officers (CMHO) and Clinical Psychiatric Officers (CPO) to provide early intervention and treatment.

Assessment of mental distress among prison inmates in Ghana's correctional system: a cross-sectional study using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.

BACKGROUND: Applying global estimates of the prevalence of mental disorders suggests that about 2.4 million Ghanaians have some form of psychiatric distress. Despite the facts that relatively little community-based treatment is available (only 18 psychiatrists are known to actively practice in Ghana), and that mental disorders are more concentrated among the incarcerated, there is no known research on mental disorders in Ghana prisons, and no forensic mental health services available to those who suffer from them. This study sought to determine the rate of mental distress among prisoners in Ghana. METHODS: This cross-sectional research used the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale to estimate the rates and severity of non-specific psychological distress among a stratified probability sample of 89 male and 11 female prisoners in one of the oldest correctional facilities in the country. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the rates of psychological distress within the study population. RESULTS: According to the Kessler Scale, more than half of all respondents had moderate to severe mental distress in the four weeks preceding their interviews. Nearly 70% of inmates with only a primary education had moderate to severe mental distress. Though this was higher than the rates among inmates with more education, it exceeded the rates for those with no education. CONCLUSIONS: The high rate of moderate to severe mental distress among the inmates in this exploratory study should serve as baseline for further studies into mental disorders among the incarcerated persons in Ghana. Future research should use larger samples, include more prison facilities, and incorporate tools that can identify specific mental disorders.

Assessment of capacity for Health Policy and Systems Research and Analysis in seven African universities: results from the CHEPSAA project.

The importance of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR+A) is widely recognized. Universities are central to strengthening and sustaining the HPSR+A capacity as they teach the next generation of decision-makers and health professionals. However, little is known about the capacity of universities, specifically, to develop the field. In this article, we report results of capacity self- assessments by seven universities within five African countries, conducted through the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA). The capacity assessments focused on both capacity 'assets' and 'needs', and covered the wider context, as well as organizational and individual capacity levels. Six thematic areas of capacity were examined: leadership and governance, organizations' resources, scope of HPSR+A teaching and research, communication, networking and getting research into policy and practice (GRIPP), demand for HPRS+A and resource environment. The self-assessments by each university used combinations of document reviews, semi-structured interviews and staff surveys, followed by comparative analysis. A framework approach, guided by the six thematic areas, was used to analyse data. We found that HPSR+A is an international priority, and an existing activity in Africa, though still neglected field with challenges including its reliance on unpredictable international funding. All universities have capacity assets, such as ongoing HPSR+A teaching and research. There are, however, varying levels of assets (such as differences in staff numbers, group sizes and amount of HPSR+A teaching and research), which, combined with different capacity needs at all three levels (such as individual training, improvement in systems for quality assurance and fostering demand for HPSR+A work), can shape a future agenda for HPSR+A capacity strengthening. Capacity assets and needs at different levels appear related. Possible integrated strategies for strengthening universities' capacity include: refining HPSR+A vision, mainstreaming the subject into under- and post-graduate teaching, developing emerging leaders and aligning HPSR+A capacity strengthening within the wider organizational development.