Reducing Supply Chain Management Risks in the Health Sector of Ghana: An Evaluation of the Central Level Supply Chain Management System of The Ghana Health Service

Abstract

Supply Chain Management plays an indispensable role in any organization’s overall performance and success. The domain of Supply Chain Management has been of great research interest in recent years. In the ever-growing healthcare world, where most healthcare organizations are confronted with diverse SCM risks and growing customer demand trends, effective and efficient SCM has been identified as a tool to help them overcome this challenge. However, the main hurdle had been how to find innovative approaches to meet customer demands that will minimize operational costs. To address these concerns and deliver effective and efficient healthcare, the Government of Ghana represented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ghana Health Service (GHS) in partnership with the Global Fund, GAVI, and the World Bank have deployed several interventions fundamentally founded on procurement and supply chain management to improve healthcare service delivery across the country. The interventions: Health commodity supply chain master plan (HCSCMP), the Last Mile Distribution (LMD), and the Ghana Integrated Logistics Management Information System (GhiLMIS), focus mainly on procurement, inventory, warehousing, and transportation of medical and non-medical products. The success and sustenance of these collaborative interventions in Supply Chain management within the health sector in Ghana hinges on key elements such as putting in place stringent procurement policies, ensuring availability of qualified personnel, transportation facilities to aid effective and efficient distribution, and paying attention to risk management practices. This study sought to examine the supply chain risk management practices at the central level of GHS and its regional and districts medical stores to identify the challenges of the existing SCM system and propose measures of addressing these challenges. The scope of the study was limited to the Ghana Health Service Supply Chain Practitioners (GHSSCP) at the central level and their collaborators at the regional levels (the Regional Health Directorates). Quantitative method was used in the study and the main research instrument used for the study was questionnaire administration. However, the study used convenience and purposive sampling techniques due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. The target respondents were mainly Supply Chain Practitioners: supplies managers, procurement officers, general stores and pharmacy stores officers. The study relied on SPSS and used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze data. The study found that notwithstanding the introduction of key interventions such as health commodity supply chain master plan (HCSCMP), the Last Mile Distribution (LMD) of health commodities from the Central level to Regional medical stores and to health facilities (Hospitals and the District Health Directorates), and the introduction of the Ghana Integrated Logistics Management Information System (GhiLMIS) as a technology tool for health commodity management at all levels across the public health sector SCM system which collective objective is to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the system through the minimization of SCM risks, interruptions, and vulnerabilities, there still exist a yawning underperforming gap due to the systems overly centralization and lack of priority for SCM risk reduction measures making the system still not performing at its full potential. The study concluded that there are basic weaknesses in almost all the supply chain dimensions covered: risk identification, risk assessment and mitigation, Supply Chain Risk Management Governance, impact of supply chain risk management, and employee supply chain risk routine activities because the much-needed attention is not given to SCM activities. The study recommended reforms including the establishment of a Supply Chain Risk Management Unit (SCRMU) at all levels (national, regional, and districts) under the direct supervision of Health Administration and Support services (HASS), the introduction of SCM performance contracts, and the implementation of a stronger but user-friendly technology driven SCM system including e-procurement, warehouse management tracking, supported by a robust feedback system to ensure risk free SCM