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Studies have examined strategies implemented to strengthen quality of emergency care in healthcare provider institutions in Ghana. But few studies have focused on what determines quality of emergency care from the patient’s perspective. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap by examining factors salient to gauging quality of emergency care and priority areas for care improvement.

Cross-sectional data were collected from patients admitted in emergency units of public hospitals in two regions: Greater Accra and Central Regions. A structured questionnaire designed with inputs from emergency medicine physicians and patients was used to collect data from 381 patients. Principal component analysis (PCA) and logistic regression models were computed to respectively determine salient measures of emergency care quality and their association with patient overall perceived quality of emergency care.

Using the PCA, four factors (social and relational care, attentive prehospitalised care, ward quality and privacy and medical supplies) were derived as salient measures of emergency care quality. All the factors derived had statistically significant association with patient overall perception of quality.

Emergency care quality improvement strategies that incorporate the dimensions identified can produce effective therapeutic outcomes.

The study drew on capacity framework around the individual, organisational, health system and wider context to explore gaps in health supply chain (HSC) workers capacity and competency to perform supply chain (SC) functions and the lessons for workforce development.

A mixed-method study was conducted across the Northern Region of Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from in-depth interviews with 34 key SC managers at the regional, district and facility levels. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered through the RedCap mobile app to 233 core HSC workers and non-core workers (clinicians with additional responsibilities in SC). Data were managed and analysed inductively and deductively for themes.

Weak knowledge and competency in SC functions attributed to poor training exposure and organisational support for capacity building, undermined the capacity to perform basic SC functions, especially by the non-core category. The policy and regulatory environment of the HSC marketplace were described as fluid and with complexity of demands. Both worker categories, therefore, requested functional, technical, managerial and customer care competencies to anticipate and manage complexities. Structural characteristics of the health system giving narrow decision space to HSC workers cascaded the capacity for innovation and initiative and promoted frustrations among mid-level managers. Infrastructural deficits and shortfalls in operational resources scaled back the capacity to efficiently manage inventory and ensure that commodities reach clients in good quality.

Finding suggest that capacity building of HSC workers, strengthening of health institutions structural and resource capacity, and leveraging on technology will enable optimal performance of HSC functions.

This study examined the determinants of mobile health (M-Health) application, adoption, usage and discontinuation among corporate workers diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes in Ghana.

The diffusion innovation and reasoned action theories were employed using an exploratory design. Three hundred corporate workers diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension from three health facilities for the past six months were sampled for the study using a multi-stage sampling technique and administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression tools were employed in the analysis of data.

The study found a significant number of factors influencing m-health applications adoption, usage and discontinuity. These factors include nature and demand of job, perceived advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability, aesthetics and trust. Aesthetics emerged as the strongest predictive factor for the adoption, usage and discontinuity of use among diabetic and hypertensive corporate workers. With the adoption of M-Health applications, compatibility, as well as nature and demand of job, were significant predictors. With the usage of M-Health applications, complexity, triability, aesthetics and trust were significant predictors. Moreover, perceived advantage, compatibility, complexity and triability influenced significantly the choice to discontinue using M-Health applications. The study concluded that M-Health application functionalities play a valuable role in patients’ intention to adopt, use and discontinue the use of an M-Health application in Ghana.

This exploratory study offers in-depth insight into how major M-Health application features affect its adoption, usage and discontinuity, providing crucial information for future research and the improvement of chronic condition healthcare delivery.

The purpose of this study is to examine how premium holders of Ghana's Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) perceive the state of quality healthcare delivery in public hospitals in the country.

Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 250 insured patients receiving care in some selected public hospitals accredited by the National Health Insurance Authority in Ghana. Results are presented using descriptive statistics and Chi‐square analysis.

The results demonstrate that the human dimensions of service quality (interaction with service provider and attitude of healthcare providers) were perceived by the insured patients to be good, and they constitute significant determinants of perceived service quality. Although waiting time was generally perceived to be long, it is not in any way associated with patient perception of quality of care.

The findings of the study provide an important step towards strengthening service quality in public hospitals in the wake of the introduction of the NHIS.

The study aims to examine how communication, provider courtesy, support/care, environment of the facility and waiting time significantly predict patients' satisfaction with quality of healthcare in two hospitals located in northern Ghana.

An exploratory study of which 324 respondents were selected using stratified and convenient sampling techniques. Results are presented using a multiple regression model.

The results revealed that of the five‐factor model, support/care, environment of the facility and waiting time determine patients' satisfaction with quality of healthcare delivery. The explanatory power of the dependent variable was explained by 51 percent.

The findings suggest that internal and external health sector stakeholders may possibly use this study as a precursor to improve service quality in the two hospitals in particular and others in general.

This paper seeks to assess the implementation of Ghana's Patients' Charter by investigating the level of awareness and knowledge of the Charter's content, some socio‐demographic factors that may influence awareness and knowledge of the Charter and how providers have discharged their responsibilities under the Charter.

A survey research approach, sampling respondents from providers and patients in four facilities from the Greater Accra region, was used. Simple frequencies and Chi‐square test were used for analysing responses.

Study findings show that the majority of patients (53.4 per cent) are not aware of the existence of the Charter of those that know about it, a sizeable minority (33.7 per cent) are not knowledgeable about its contents. Relative to patients, providers exhibit better awareness (61.8 per cent) and content knowledge (61.8 per cent) of the Patients' Charter, but on the whole are not yet carrying out their responsibilities under it. In terms of socio‐demographic factors influencing awareness and knowledge of content, only education was found to be a positive correlate of awareness and knowledge. The relationship between providers and patients is generally cordial and could be used as a platform for improving awareness and knowledge of the charter, which could be crucial for improving service delivery.

This is an initial exploratory research with a limited sample, which was biased towards the educated. Findings are, however, instructive and essential for more extensive and representative research in this area.

Since the Charter was launched in 2002, this study is the first of its kind and therefore provides important information for policy and further research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether organisational justice (distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) predicts job satisfaction and performance of health professionals and whether the demographic characteristics of hospital employees mediate the relationship between workplace justice and job satisfaction and performance.

Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 300 respondents in seven hospitals using convenient sampling. Hypotheses were tested using multiple and hierarchical regression models.

The paper established that distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice predict job satisfaction and performance of health professionals. However, their demographic characteristics are shown to partially mediate the relationship between organisational justice and job satisfaction but not performance.

Granted that other studies exist, this is one of the few that focuses on hospitals and probably the first of its kind in Ghanaian hospitals. Thus the findings could be essential for policy and practice and also generate further discourse that may improve the extant literature and our understanding of the subject.

The authors seek to examine two key issues: to assess patients' hospital service quality perceptions and expectation using SERVQUAL; and to outline the distinct concepts used to assess patient perceptions.

Questionnaires were administered to 250 patients on admission and follow‐up visits. The 22 paired SERVQUAL expectation and perception items were adopted. Repeated t‐measures and factor analysis with Varimax rotation were used to analyse data.

Results showed that patient expectations were not being met during medical treatment. Perceived service quality was rated lower than expectations for all variables. The mean difference between perceptions and expectations was statistically significant. Contrary to the SERVQUAL five‐factor model, four service‐quality factors were identified in the study.

Findings have practical implications for hospital managers who should consider stepping up staffing levels backed by client‐centred training programmes to help clinicians deliver care to patients' expectations.

Limited studies are tailored towards patients' service‐quality perception and expectation in Ghanaian hospitals. The findings therefore provide valuable information for policy and practice.

To achieve Goal 5 of the MDGs, the Government of Ghana introduced the free maternal health service system to break financial barriers of access to maternal care services. In spite of this, facility‐based deliveries continue to be low due partly to poor quality of antenatal care that prevents pregnant women from giving birth in hospitals. The aim of this study is to examine factors shaping quality of antenatal care in selected public hospitals in the country.

363 expectant mothers were randomly selected for interview. Women who have previously received antenatal care in the health facilities for at least two occasions were interviewed. Multivariate logistic regression model were computed to examine correlates of antenatal care quality.

The odds of reporting quality of antenatal care as good was higher among women aged between 30 and 34 years. Similarly women with junior/senior high education were more likely to report antenatal care quality as good. Distance to the health facilities generally influence women perception of antenatal care quality but the relative odds of reporting quality of care as good attenuated with proximity to the health facility. Five factors (pleasant interaction with providers, privacy during consultation, attentiveness of providers, adequate facilities and availability of drugs) emerged as statistically significant in explaining antenatal care quality after controlling for selected demographic variables.

Results of the study generally demonstrate the need to improve maternal services in public facilities to stimulate utilisation and facility‐based deliveries.