HUMAN CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE DELIVERY IN SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of establishing healthcare delivery under the local government in Nigeria which is known as Primary Health Care (PHC) is yet to be attained due to poor training capacity and lack of trained health personnel. There is dearth of research on human capacity development towards improving the quality of healthcare delivery. This study examined the influence of Human Capacity Development (HCD) on quality of healthcare delivery in Selected Local Government Areas in South-western Nigeria. Specifically, this study focusses on HCD practices (Training, Performance Appraisal, Career Development and Organisational Development) in PHC, its influence on the quality of healthcare delivery in selected local government areas, South-western Nigeria, assessed the perception of the service utilizers on the quality of healthcare delivery and the challenges facing the service providers towards the delivery of quality service in the study area. The study was conducted among 241 service providers and 239 service utilizers sampled in the PHC facilities, South-western States of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The required data were obtained through structured questionnaire and an in-depth interview. Five hypotheses were tested using simple linear and multiple regression inferential statistical of tool (SPSS) version 22 to determine the significant influence of HCD on quality of healthcare delivery. The descriptive analysis revealed a good practice of training, performance appraisal, career development and a fair practice of organisational development in PHC. The regression analysis result indicated that training, performance appraisal, career development and organizational development practice significantly influence quality of healthcare delivery with training R2= .620, performance appraisal, R2 = .556, career development R2 = .630 and organizational development R2 = .570. Multiple regression showed that HCD: Training (X1), Performance Appraisal (X2), Career Development (X3) and Organisational Development (X4) contributes 52% to quality healthcare delivery. The study revealed major hindrances to the delivery of quality service. These include shortage of skilled manpower, inadequate medical equipment, poor employee motivation, inadequate of basic infrastructure, unavailabity of drugs, poor funding and cultural belief. The result also showed that the service utilizers are satisfied with the quality of healthcare delivery, except for inadequate empathy and delay in service delivery. Consequent upon the findings of the study, the study concludes the need for policy makers to emphasize in the National Health Policy document, the development of the health personnel and address the challenges of healthcare delivery in order enhance the quality of healthcare delivery in PHC, Nigeria.