Abstract
M.Cur.
The South African Minister of Health stated that compliance with the quality standards in health services is non-negotiable since it is fundamental in improving South Africa’s current poor health outcomes and in restoring patient and staff confidence in the public health care system. Compliance with these standards will achieve widespread sustainable development and provide basic quality healthcare in South Africa. Non-compliance with quality standards, as evidenced by increased quality related queries from the community, prompted the researcher to explore and describe the reasons for managers’ non-compliance with quality standards at the Primary Health Care clinics in the Ekurhuleni Health District.
The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the reasons for the managers’ non-compliance with quality standards at the Primary Health Care clinics in the Ekurhuleni Health District in order to describe recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with the quality standards at these clinics. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. A purposive sample of Primary Health Care clinics’ managers who met the research inclusion criteria and were willing to participate in the study was utilised. Data was collected by means of in-depth, semi-structured, individual interviews that were audio-taped with permission from the participants to ensure verbatim transcription of the data. Data analysis was done by means of Tesch’s open coding method
The study’s trustworthiness was ensured by adherence to Lincoln and Guba’s principles of credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability and authenticity. The ethical standards regarding principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice according to Grove, Burns and Gray were adhered to throughout the study. Findings revealed the following two main themes and sub-themes: (1) challenges with managerial practices as reasons for non-compliance with quality standards and (2) challenges with resources required as reasons for non-compliance with quality standards. The themes and sub-themes were integrated into relevant national and international literature and recommendations to facilitate the managers’ compliance with the quality standards at the Primary Health Care clinics in the Ekurhuleni Health District were described...