Abstract
IntroductionEffective supportive supervision is widely recognized as essential for optimal management of medicines in government health facilities and also in contributing towards improved access and utilization of health services. This study sought to examine the extent supportive supervision for medicines management in government health facilities from a health worker perspective.MethodsA cross-sectional study was done targeting health workers managing medicines in government health facilities in Kiambu County. One hundred and thirty eight respondents took part in the study which explored the quality of supportive supervision from a health worker's perspective, and also examined the factors influencing their contentment with the level of supervision received. A statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21 and Excel 2013.ResultsSupervisory visits from all levels of health management were not regularly done, standard checklists were not routinely used, and action plans irregularly developed and followed up. Only 54 (38.6%) respondents were satisfied with the levels of supportive supervision that they received, with satisfaction significantly differing across the professional cadres, χ2 (12, n = 138) = 29.762, p = .003; across the different tiers of health facilities, rs (138) = 0.341, p < .001; and with the education levels of the respondents, rs (138) = 0.381, p < .001.ConclusionThe study concluded that supportive supervision for medicines management that government health facilities received was still inadequate, and health workers were dissatisfied with the level of supervision that they received. The study recommends a review of the support supervision policy at the county level to address the unearthed inefficiencies and improve supervision for medicines management in government health facilities.
Highlights
Supportive supervision is widely recognized as essential for improving health worker performance and achieving the health Millennium Development Goals
Whereas most respondents expected a supervisory visit from the National Health Management Team (NHMT) semi-annually 73 (52.9%) and annually 47 (34.1%), the actual visits by the NHMT were mostly irregular 88 (63.8%) with 42 (30.4%) of the visits reported to be annual according to the respondents
Actual visits by the County Health Management Teams (CHMT) were reported to be irregular by a majority of the respondents 104 (75%) in the period prior to the study
Summary
Supportive supervision is widely recognized as essential for improving health worker performance and achieving the health Millennium Development Goals. It is a process whereby managers and supervisors guide and encourage personnel to optimize their performance in a supportive environment and recognize them when they attain a high level of performance [1]. Supportive supervision has been shown to lead to higher health worker motivation, increased and sustained job satisfaction, improved service quality as staff learn and improve skills on-the-job, efficient use of resources as staff are supported to prioritize activities and allocate resources and enhanced equity in access to services, as staff are reminded of the health needs of the population and encouraged to work towards meeting these needs [2, 3]. Action plans should be jointly crafted at the end of each supervisory visit, and should be followed up in the subsequent supervisory visits to ensure continuity and implementation of the recommendations [4]
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