260 Barriers to the Delivery of Obstetric Care Within Primary Health Centres (PHC) in India- a Scoping Review

BackgroundTypically, public health systems at lower levels (district and below) do not have the required authority and/or resources to substantially improve the local health systems. Understanding factors that explain differential...

Purpose: Government of Indonesia (GOI) has commitment to ensure that basic obstetric and newborn care is provided as to standard of care, through a pilot project of facilitative supervision conducted at 5 Primary Health Centre (PHC) of Ende district, in a series of combined online and onsite supervision during a period of 7 months, ended in December 2021. This operational research examined PHC’ readiness in providing emergency obstetric and newborn care, comparing intervened and control PHC.
 Methods: This present study used quasi experimental method, with Post-test Only Control Group design. Intervention of facilitative supervision only provided in one group, and assessment conducted in those 2 groups, comparing results between those groups. Unit analysis was PHC, 2 PHCs selected as intervened PHC, and 2 PHCs as control. Data were collected through direct observation using check list, assessment of patient’s records, and interview with several health workers.
 Results: In this operational study we compared the service coverage and readiness in providing emergency obstetric neonatal care, between PHC that received and not received intensive facilitative supervision in the previous 7 months. PHC in urban area handling very few obstetric complications but referred more cases to District Hospital (>90). However, intervened PHC provide obstetric complication care two times higher (8.33%) than control PHC (4.17%). Both intervened and control PHC in rural area, provide far more obstetric complication care (>60%) compared to those in urban area, with the coverage of referral case around 30-35% from total obstetric complication cases. Intervened PHC in rural area managing all neonatal complication cases, and shows the lowest percentage of neonatal death (1,2%) compare to other PHCs. Control PHC in rural area also managed 88.89% of neonatal complication cases, but has the highest percentage of neonatal death (4.17%). The significant difference between intervened and control PHC in the input side, lies in the availability of emergency team which should be minimal of 3 health workers consist of doctor, midwife and nurse; and availability of neonatal emergency kit. In the process side, the difference between intervened and control PHC is more obvious in rural area, the main difference lies in the unavailability of algorithm and SOP for post-partum bleeding, pre/eclampsia, and neonatal resuscitation at control PHC
 Conclusions: There is difference in the readiness of providing emergency maternal neonatal between intervened and control PHC only in rural area, indicate by higher compliance level value in the intervened PHC (77.14%) compared to control PHC (40%). The difference in the quality of care only obvious in rural area and in emergency neonatal care, indicate by 3,5x lower percentage of neonatal death in intervened PHC compared to the control PHC

Bangladesh is committed to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2032; to this end, the government of Bangladesh is exploring policy options to increase fiscal space for health and expand coverage while improving service quality and availability. Despite Bangladesh's impressive strides in improving its economic and social development outcomes, the government still confronts health financing and service delivery challenges. In its review of the health system, this study highlights the limited fiscal space for implementing UHC in Bangladesh, particularly given low public spending for health and high out-of-pocket expenditure. The crisis in the country's human resources for health (HRH) compounds public health service delivery inefficiencies. As the government explores options to finance its UHC plan, it must recognize that reform of its service delivery system with particular focus on HRH has to be the centerpiece of any policy initiative. The Path to Universal Health Coverage in Bangladesh assesses the current status of HRH in terms of production, recruitment, and deployment as well as related policy-making processes. It then explores policy options based on evidence from international experience that will help Bangladesh improve the availability and skill-mix of its health workforce. To reach its goal of UHC by 2032, the government will have to commit itself to policies to expand health financing options and, at the same time, tackle HRH challenges head on. This study presents an economic analysis model of different scenarios that accelerate closing the HRH gap for nurses and community midwives by 2020 within the government's fiscal space, thus improving the skill-mix of its health workforce. The study also presents detailed policy options to address HRH shortages, improve the skill mix, address geographic imbalances, retain health workers in rural areas, and adopt strategic payments and purchasing mechanisms. In presenting these options, the study provides evidence from literature as well as cogent cases from low- and middle-income countries, such as Afghanistan, Chile, Indonesia, Malawi, Nepal, Tanzania, and Thailand, to demonstrate the effect of these policies.

Background: Performance-based financing (PBF) is an important mechanism for improving the quality of health services in low- and middle- income countries. In 2014, Tanzania launched a countrywide quality approach known as Star Rating Assessment (SRA) which aims to assess the quality of healthcare service delivery in all Primary Health Care (PHC) Facilities in the country. Furthermore, by 2018 (2015-2018), the country rolled out RBF initiatives into eight regions in which PHC facilities were paid incentives based on their level of achievement in SRA assessments. This study aims to compare performance in quality between PHC facilities under RBF regions and non-RBF regions using the findings from the twophases SRA assessments; baseline (2015/16) and follow-up (2017/18). Methods: Analysis of performance of SRA indicators in the SRA service areas were identified based on the star rating tool that was used. The star rating tool had 12 service areas. For the sake of this implementation study, only seven service areas were included. The purposive sampling of the areas was used to select the areas that had direct influence of RBF in health facilities improvement. We used a t-test to determine whether there were differences in assessment star rating scores between the regions that implemented RBF and those, which did not at each assessment (both baseline and reassessment). All results were considered significant at p<0.05. The 95% Confidence Interval was also reported. Results: The mean value was found to be 61.26 among facilities exposed to RBF compared to 51.28 among those not exposed to RBF. The study showed the mean difference score to be 10.79, with a confidence interval at 95% to be -1.24 to 22.84, suggesting that there was (no) a significant difference in the facilities based on RBF exposure during baseline assessment. The p-value of 0.07 was not statistically significant. Overall, there was an increment in facilities scoring the recommended 3+stars and above by 17.39% between the assessments, the difference was significant (p=0.0001). When the regions were stratified based on RBF intervention; facilities under RBF improved in 3+ stars by 10.63% higher compared to those that were not under RBF; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.06) Conclusion: Improvement of Health services needs to adhere to all six WHO building blocks and not to a sole financing. The six WHO building blocks are 1. Service delivery 2. Health workforce 3. Health information systems 4. Access to essential medicines 5. Financing 6. Leadership/governance. Probably, RBF found not to influence star rating because other blocks were not considered in this intervention. We need to integrate all the six WHO building blocks whenever we want to improve health services provision.

Effective, Respectful and Affordable Care: A call for Decentralized Maternal Care.

IntroductionDeveloping and adapting health service models to effectively meet the needs of rural and remote communities is an international priority given inequities in health outcomes compared with metropolitan counterparts. This integrative review aims to inform rural and remote health service delivery systems by drawing on the WHO Framework building blocks to identify lessons learned from the literature describing experiences of rural and remote community health service planning and implementation; and inform recommendations to strengthen often disadvantaged rural and remote health systems for policy makers, health service managers, and those implementing international healthcare initiatives within these contexts.MethodsThe integrative review examined the literature reporting rural and remote community health service delivery published from 2007 to 2017 (the decade following the release of the WHO Framework). Using an analytic frame, a structured template was developed to extract data and categorized against the WHO building blocks, followed by a synthesis of the key findings.ResultsThis integrative review identified that WHO Framework building blocks such as “Service Delivery” and “Health Workforce” are commonly reflected in rural and remote community health service delivery literature in the decade since the Framework's release. However, others such as “Sustainable Funding and Social Protection” are less commonly reported in the literature despite these elements being identified by the WHO as being integral to successful, sustainable health service delivery systems.ConclusionsWe found that collaboration across the health system governance continuum from local to policy level is an essential enabler for rural and remote health service delivery. Community‐based participatory action research provides an opportunity to learn from one another, build capacity, optimize service model suitability, and promotes cultural safety by demonstrating respect and inclusivity in decision‐making. Policy makers and funders need to acknowledge the time and resources required to build trust and community coalitions to inform effective planning and implementation.

Background:Public sector health facilities were poorly managed due to a history of conflict in Nagaland, India. Government of Nagaland introduced “Nagaland Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act” in 2002. Main objectives of the evaluation were to review the functioning of Health Center Managing Committees (HCMCs), deliver health services in the institutions managed by HCMC, identify strengths as well as challenges perceived by HCMC members in the rural areas of Mokokchung district, Nagaland.Materials and Methods:The evaluation was made using input, process and output indicators. A doctor, the HCMC Chairman and one member from each of the three community health centers (CHC) and four primary health centers (PHC) were surveyed using a semi-structured questionnaire and an in-depth interview guide. Proportions for quantitative data were computed and key themes from the same were identified.Results:Overall; the infrastructure, equipment and outpatient/inpatient service availability was satisfactory. There was a lack of funds and shortage of doctors, drugs as well as laboratory facilities. HCMCs were in place and carried out administrative activities. HCMCs felt ownership, mobilized community contributions and managed human resources. HCMC members had inadequate funds for their transport and training. They faced challenges in service delivery due to political interference and lack of adequate human, material, financial resources.Conclusions:Communitisation program was operational in the district. HCMC members felt the ownership of health facilities. Administrative, political support and adequate funds from the government are needed for effective functioning of HCMCs and optimal service delivery in public sector facilities.

An adequate, performing health workforce is vital for improving health service coverage and health outcomes.1 Yet the availability, distribution, capacity and performance of human resources for health (HRH) varies widely and many countries have fewer health workers than needed for high coverage of essential health services, according to the World health report 2006.2 Signs of progress are emerging, though; several countries are successfully addressing their problems in the area of HRH, resulting in improvements in health outcomes.3 These gains are, however, vulnerable: shortages of and inequitable access to health workers still thwart many countries’ attempts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their efforts to scale up their response against noncommunicable diseases and attain universal health coverage. Universal Health Care (UHC) was defined by the World Health organization in 2005.4 Since then it has gained increased recognition as a framework for embracing various global health priorities. New evidence, policy options and advocacy5 in support of the progressive achievement of UHC have been the focus of the World health report: health systems financing6 and of numerous global health events.7,8 In 2011 the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on UHC,9 and in 2012 a United Nations General Assembly resolution bolstered political momentum in support of UHC and underscored the need for an “adequate, skilled, well-trained and motivated workforce”.10 In this context ensuring that appropriate HRH strategies and priorities are embedded in the UHC and post-MDG agenda becomes crucial. As health systems progressively broaden their scope to cover noncommunicable diseases and other priorities, health workers will face new demands for more comprehensive and equitable service delivery. The challenge lies in addressing past and present gaps while simultaneously anticipating future actions to strengthen the health workforce as an integral part of health systems. The HRH needs demand renewed attention, strategic intelligence and action. Gaps in health worker distribution, competency, quality, motivation and performance need to be addressed in addition to sheer numbers. Fundamental changes in the way in which health workers are trained, managed, regulated and supported and in the role of the public sector in shaping labour market forces will be necessary. Against this background, the Bulletin will publish a theme issue on HRH and universal health coverage to provide an opportunity to identify the changes in HRH investment, production, deployment and retention required to achieve UHC. Its publication will coincide with the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, to be held in Recife, Brazil, on 10–13 November 2013. The Third Global Forum is convened by the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) – a multisectoral partnership established in 2006 to spearhead the response to HRH challenges – in conjunction with WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and the Government of Brazil. The First Global Forum (Uganda, 2008) resulted in the development of a global HRH roadmap;11 at the Second Global Forum (Thailand, 2011), countries and stakeholders reconvened to review progress and renew their commitments towards increased investment, sustained leadership and the adoption of effective HRH policies. The Third Global Forum will provide an opportunity to update the HRH agenda, to make it more relevant to the current global health policy discourse, including the focus on achieving the health MDGs, the objective of UHC and the emerging debate on the post-2015 agenda. Additionally, countries and HRH stakeholders will be invited to explicitly commit to HRH actions as the basis for an inclusive accountability framework. The Third Global Forum’s programme will position health workforce development as a critical requirement for effective UHC and will be designed around one overarching theme – “human resources for health: foundation for universal health coverage and the post-2015 development agenda” – as well as five sub-themes and their corresponding tracks: (i) leadership, partnerships and accountability for HRH development; (ii) impact-driven HRH investments towards UHC; (iii) a supportive HRH legal and regulatory landscape for UHC; (iv) empowerment of health workers by overcoming policy, social and cultural barriers; (v) the harnessing of HRH innovation and research through new management models and technologies.12 To provide a solid evidence base and background to the Third Global Forum’s proceedings, the theme issue will feature commissioned as well as independently submitted articles that will set the scene for and generate innovative thinking on HRH for UHC. GHWA and WHO welcome contributions on the Forum’s general theme, five sub-themes and tracks, especially those emphasizing aspects of HRH directly related to achieving UHC. Submission of relevant country experiences is particularly encouraged. The deadline for submissions is 10 March 2013. Manuscripts should respect the Bulletin’s Guidelines for contributors (available at: http://submit.bwho.org) and mention this call for papers in the cover letter. All submissions will be reviewed by peers.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting the need, utilization, and delivery of mental health services with greater challenges being faced by clients and providers. With many clients facing reduced access to services and social isolation, a focus on suicide risk assessment and prevention is critical. Concern is particularly increased for clients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders given data show suicide rates are disproportionately high for those with psychosis in comparison to the general population. Provider perspectives of challenges in service delivery are needed to inform efforts to improve access, feasibility, and quality of mental health care throughout the evolving pandemic. This study explored mental health provider perspectives of client challenges in service utilization and provider challenges in service delivery, including remote engagement, suicide risk assessment, and treatment of psychosis.MethodsData were collected from social work mental health providers (n = 12) in United States community mental health setting. Providers consented to participate and responded to questions about service delivery experiences in late 2020 and in relation to COVID-19. Demographic and practice-related provider data were explored descriptively using SPSS and qualitative data using open coding and grounded theory methods in Dedoose.ResultsAmong the 9 providers who engaged in remote service delivery, 7 (77.8%) experienced challenges in remote engagement with clients and 8 (88.9%) experienced challenges in treatment of psychosis. Among the 7 providers who engaged in remote suicide assessment, 4(57%) experienced challenges. Qualitative themes emerged including logistic (e.g., technology access and use), engagement (e.g., virtual rapport-building and limited remote services), and clinical (e.g., difficulty assessing suicide risk, internal stimuli, abnormal involuntary movement, and affect) challenges in service delivery.ConclusionsProvider perspectives are essential to inform efforts to build resources and problem-solve challenges and barriers that both providers and clients face throughout various shifts in mental health service delivery. Findings emphasize the need to troubleshoot client access to technology, bolster support for providers to prevent burnout, and greater provider training to improve skills in remote engagement, assessment, and treatment, particularly in relation to psychosis and suicide prevention. Study implications are not only critical for the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, but also in preparation for ongoing shifts in service delivery as technology evolves.

BackgroundChina has a high burden of diabetes mellitus (DM), and a large proportion of DM patients remain untreated for various reasons, including low availability of primary health care providers. DM patient management is one of the priorities in China’s national essential public health programs. Shortage of health workforce has been a major barrier to improving access to health care for DM patients. This study examines the impact of the health workforce on outpatient utilization of DM patients.MethodsData were collected from China National Health Service Surveys in 2008 and 2013, covering 94 rural counties and 156 urban districts, respectively, with a total of 15,984 DM patients. Household data and facility-based data at county/district level were merged. The health workforce was measured by number of physicians per 1,000 population in county hospitals and primary health centers (PHCs), respectively. Health care seeking behavior was measured by health care utilization and distribution of health providers of the DM patients. Multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the impact of the health workforce on outpatient visits by DM patients, and a multilevel, multinomial logit model was used to examine the impact of the health workforce on choice of health providers by DM patients.ResultsAn increase in the number of physicians at both county hospitals and PHCs was associated with increased outpatient visits by DM patients, particularly more physicians at PHCs. With increased numbers of physicians at PHCs, outpatient visits among residents with DM in rural and western areas of China increased more than those in urban and eastern areas. More physicians at PHCs had a positive impact on improving the likelihood of outpatient visits at PHCs. The positive influence of increasing the number of physicians available to DM patients in rural and western areas was greater than that for urban and eastern DM patients.ConclusionsThe health workforce is a key component of any healthcare system and is critical in improving health care accessibility. Strategies to increase coverage of health workforce at PHCs are crucial to achieving adequate levels of health services for DM patients. Allocation of health workforce should focus on PHCs in rural and low-income areas.

Introduction: This paper is an attempt to get an in depth knowledge of the public health status of the state and the challenges being faced by the state. Adequate public health Infrastructure and Human Resources are the two main components that helps in ensuring proper delivery of health services to the society. This paper will focus mainly on these two components at the community level i.e at Sub centre (SC), Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs). This is an effort to enable and help medical practitioners, healthcare providers and other stakeholders to identify the need and to ensure optimum utilization of available resources to improve health status of the community and the state. Materials and Methods: Desk Review of the available literature and analysis of the secondary data available in public domain was carried out. Results: In spite of showing progress in various health indicators like IMR, Institutional deliveries, ANC etc. there is lot yet to be achieved. In terms of presence of SC, PHC & CHC there are enough number of facilities present in the state but the condition has been appalling in terms of quality of health care services & availability of specialist and well trained manpower. Conclusion: Due to identified bottlenecks in the paper the healthcare delivery system of state is not of high quality which takes a toll on performance of the state. A roadmap needs to be developed and adhered to in order to achieve the desirable and sustainable health system with adequate HRH and quality infrastructure in the state. Keywords: Health systems, Health Infrastructure, Human resources for health, North east public health, Rural healthcare, Community health accessibility.

Background: Many of the total quality management (TQM) implementation challenges substantiated in the literature seem oriented towards various facets, including organisation, management, or clients, casting doubts about the effectiveness of the concept in service delivery. The ever-increasing demand for quality services solicits more attention to the desired performance outcomes that define and reflect more of clients’ needs. Such demand presents quality management concerns for many healthcare organisations targeting service delivery.Aim: The TQM concept gets less logical given the increasing challenges in its implementation for service delivery. This research aimed to determine the significance of such challenges.Setting: Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH), Lesotho.Methods: Based on a questionnaire survey of 297 participants, comprising 98 staff and 199 clients, the study obtains survey data from a 5-year result of TQM implementation attempts at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH), Lesotho.Results: TQM demonstrates great potential to support service delivery as a strategic approach. The study isolates the management-oriented facet of TQM implementation challenges and finds them considerably influenced by the various TQM components.Conclusion: This study establishes and classifies the TQM implementation challenges in QMMH, which are mostly organization, management, and client-oriented. It further addresses assumptions relating to their classifications. Overall, the result suggests that the significance of the underlying challenges in service delivery is more management-oriented.Contribution: The study provides directions that strengthen the effectiveness of the TQM concept and its implementation. It suggests the capacity-building of a hospital’s management team drives TQM implementation.

BackgroundIn 2019, the World Health Organization, set a target to halve the burden of snakebite, by 2030, and identified ‘health systems strengthening’ as a key pillar of action. In India, the country with most snakebite deaths, the Union Government identified (in September 2022) training of health workers as a priority action area. In this policy context, we provide empirical evidence by analysing the most recent nationwide survey data (District Level Household and Facility Survey − 4), to assess structural capacity and continuum of snakebite care in primary health care system in India.MethodologyWe evaluated structural capacity for snakebite care under six domains: medicines, equipment, infrastructure, human resources, governance and finance, and health management information systems (HMIS). We categorised states (aspirant, performer, front-runner, achiever) based on the proportion of primary health centres (PHC) and community health centres (CHC), attaining highest possible domain score. We assessed continuum of snakebite care, district-wise, under five domains (connectivity to PHC, structural capacity of PHC, referral from PHC to higher facility, structural capacity of CHC, referral from CHC to higher facility) as adequate or not.ResultsNo state excelled ( front-runner or achiever) in all six domains of structural capacity in PHCs or CHCs. The broader domains (physical infrastructure, human resources for health, HMIS) were weaker compared to snakebite care medicines in most states/UTs, at both PHC and CHC levels. CHCs faced greater concerns regarding human resources and equipment availability than PHCs in many states. Among PHCs, physical infrastructure and HMIS were aspirational in all 29 assessed states, while medicines, equipment, human resources, and governance and finance were aspirational in 8 (27.6%), 2 (6.9%), 17 (58.6%), and 12 (41.4%) states respectively. For CHCs, physical infrastructure was aspirational in all 30 assessed states/UTs, whereas HMIS, medicines, equipment, human resources, and governance and finance were aspirational in 29 (96.7%), 11 (36.7%), 27 (90%), 26 (86.7%), and 3 (10%) states respectively. No district had adequate continuum of snakebite care in all domains. Except for transport availability from CHC to higher facilities (48% of districts adequate) and transport availability from PHC to higher facilities (11% of districts adequate), fewer than 2% of districts were adequate in all other domains.ConclusionComprehensive strengthening of primary health care, across all domains, and throughout the continuum of care, instead of a piece-meal approach towards health systems strengthening, is necessitated to reduce snakebite burden in India, and possibly other high-burden nations with weak health systems. Health facility surveys are necessitated for this purpose.

Disasters such as earthquakes, conflict, or landslides result in traumatic injuries creating surges in rehabilitation and assistive technology needs, exacerbating pre-existing unmet needs. Disasters frequently occur in countries where existing rehabilitation services are underdeveloped, hindering response to rehabilitation demand surge events. The primary aim of this scoping review is therefore to synthesize the evidence on rehabilitation and assistive technology preparedness and response of health systems in LMICs to the demand associated with disasters and conflict situations. A secondary aim was to summarize related recommendations identified in the gathered literature. A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework to guide the methodological development. The results are reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR. Four bibliographic databases were used: CINHAL, Cochrane, Pubmed, Scopus and. Key international organisations were also contacted. The search period was from 2010-2022. Eligible publications were categorized for analysis under the six World Health Organization health systems buildings blocks. The findings of this scoping review suggest that rehabilitation is poorly integrated into health systems disaster preparedness and response in LMICs. Of the 27 studies included in the scoping review, 14 focused on service delivery, 6 on health workforce, 4 on health information systems and 3 on the leadership and governance building block. No study focused on financing nor assistive technology. This review found the most frequently referenced recommendations for actions that should be taken to develop rehabilitation services in disasters to be: the provision early and multi-professional rehabilitation, including the provision of assistive technology and psychological support, integrated community services; disaster response specific training for rehabilitation professionals; advocacy efforts to create awareness of the importance of rehabilitation in disasters; and the integration of rehabilitation into disaster preparedness and responseplans. Findings of this scoping review suggest that rehabilitation is poorly integrated into health systems disaster preparedness and response in LMIC's, largely due to low awareness of rehabilitation, undeveloped rehabilitation health systems and a lack of rehabilitation professionals, and disaster specific training for them. The paucity of availableevidence hinders advocacy efforts for rehabilitation in disaster settings and limits the sharing of experiences and lessons learnt to improve rehabilitation preparedness and response. Advocacy efforts need to be expanded.

Background: Substance abuse is recognised as a worldwide concern, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality in South Africa. There is minimal research that has considered influences in mental health care service delivery in rural and disadvantaged communities in South Africa.
 
 Methods: A qualitative study with substance abuse service providers in uMkhanyakude rural district of KwaZulu-Natal was undertaken to gain insight into the experiences and challenges in service delivery. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders (n = 29) in the rural district.
 
 Results: The findings of the study suggest that service providers experience challenges in service delivery in this rural area. The effects of culture (amarula festival and ancestral worship) exacerbate the use of substances; the high rate of unemployment and poverty lead to the produce of home-brewed substances for sustainable living; a lack of resources poses threats to service delivery; the poor prioritisation of mental health care services and a lack of monitoring and evaluation of services in the district were highlighted.
 
 Conclusions: Despite this being a single district study, findings reflect the need for a district, provincial and national standard for substance abuse rehabilitation services in addition to the improvement of monitoring and evaluation for quality improvement. There is also a need to respond to the gaps that exist in after-care and community-based or decentralised substance abuse services that are essential in such areas, which are under-resourced despite the high prevalence of substance users.
 
 (Full text of the research articles are available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp)
 
 S Afr Fam Pract 2017; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2016.1272232