Health Care Services In South Africa Research Articles

An overview of the National Health Insurance and its possible impact on eye healthcare services in South Africa

The National Health Insurance (NHI) is an important development that underpins democracy in South Africa. It aims to redress the inequities of public healthcare delivery by implementing transformational policies towards establishing inclusive public healthcare coverage for the entire population of South Africa, with more emphasis on health promotion. The implementation of this initiative has created some hope amongst primary eye healthcare professionals, such as optometrists, that their profession may finally be given the recognition it deserves. Although the government is contemplating introducing a new directorate for eye healthcare and forming an advisory committee on eye healthcare reporting to the Minister of Health, the extent to which eye healthcare will be incorporated into the NHI is currently not clear. It is believed that the white paper on the NHI will shed some light on these issues. Unfortunately, current indications are that the initiative has serious challenges to overcome such as poor infrastructure, budgetary constraints and lack of interest from other healthcare professionals. Furthermore, corruption issues may also need to be addressed if the NHI is to be implemented successfully. Nevertheless, the NHI remains a positive proposition for universal health coverage for the people of South Africa, and there is hope that primary eye care providers, such as optometrists and other eye care professionals, will also play a greater role in the NHI than they currently do in the public healthcare system.

Job Satisfaction in the Healthcare Services in South Africa: Case of MPH

The ultimate goal in the health environment is quality service delivery it is imperative that employees perform optimally and maintain acceptable levels of job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to investigate how job satisfaction of healthcare personnel influence quality service delivery through productivity, work performance, employee loyalty and retention at Mafikeng Provincial Hospital (MPH) in the North-West Province. The study utilized a descriptive method in order to reach its aim and the results reveal that among the determinants of job satisfaction, the availability of sufficient resources to do the work was selected as the major determinant of employee job satisfaction at MPH and at least 56.3% of the MPH workers were not satisfied with sufficient resources available to do their work, which hindered the effectiveness of service delivery. Satisfaction with job done by immediate supervisor was the second determinant of job satisfaction on this aspect the organization is doing very well with 66.0% of the respondents reported satisfaction with their immediate supervisor’s jobs. The findings from the study show that job satisfaction improves productivity and performance, this was evident from majority of respondents (83.5%) who agreed that job satisfaction affects the way they met their target quotas, this makes logic when we look at the response rate of 79.6% of employees who agreed that they spent productive time working on the tasks assigned to them, rather than idling or doing other things which do not benefit the organization. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n3p94

Satisfaction with healthcare services in South Africa: results of the national 2010 General Household Survey.

IntroductionThe 1998 and 2003 Demographic and Health Surveys suggested increasing rates of dissatisfaction with health services in South Africa. The goal of this analysis was to examine national healthcare satisfaction rates in 2010.MethodsWe conducted weighted logistic regression analysis of data from 22,959 household representatives who participated in the nationally-representative 2010 General Household Survey (GHS).ResultsIn total, 88.5% of participants were somewhat or very satisfied with their last visit to their usual healthcare provider, including 84.6% of those visiting a public provider and 97.3% of those consulting a private provider. Satisfaction rates were lower for black South Africans (87.0%) and low income households (86.3% of households with monthly incomes less than 2500 rands) than for white South Africans (96.0%) and high income households (94.0% of those with monthly incomes of at least 8000 rands) (p<0.001). However, after adjusting for provider type, there were few differences in satisfaction rates by race/ethnicity and income level.ConclusionThe analysis suggests that differences in satisfaction with healthcare services in South Africa by racial/ethnic group and income level are due in large part to different rates of use of private providers.

The role of the registered nurse in the marketing of primary healthcare services, as part of health promotion

Existing literature on the marketing of primary healthcare services was reviewed to determine the role of registered nurses in this regard. The systematic review included five searches and ensured wide coverage of the results of available primary research studies on the topic. The results were summarised and the role of registered nurses in the marketing of primary healthcare services was identified. Primary research sources on the topic included textbooks on marketing by experts in the field and relevant journal articles by authorities on healthcare marketing. The data were analysed and four main categories identified. To ensure the trustworthiness of the research, Lincoln and Guba's (1981: 215-216) criteria, as explained by Krefting (1991: 217), were applied. Because the population consisted of only literature, ethical considerations concerning human subjects were irrelevant. Results indicated that the basic commercial marketing principles (the so-called 4Ps--product, price, place, and promotion) could be adapted for the health sector. The conclusion was that registered nurses could contribute to the marketing of primary healthcare services by communicating with the community (promotion) and by ensuring effective service (product) delivery at the right price and place. Registered nurses could influence the community's perceptions of health care and facilitate behaviour changes, thereby promote health. The implementation of the findings and recommendations of this research could create a new awareness among registered nurses of their role in the marketing of primary healthcare services in South Africa and improve their skills in this regard.