Influence of Public Private Partnership on Health Care Service Delivery

Abstract

Health sector projects within Kiambu County are faced with financial, Technical and human resource challenges resulting from increased cost of goods, staffing, and budget. However, in spite of the government financial and human resources support through the Public Private Partnership strategy, it is not certain if the community has gained substantial improvement in their livelihood with regard to service delivery. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of Public Private Partnership on Health Care Service Delivery: A Case of Githurai 45 Community Life Center Project in Kiambu County. The study’s objectives were to determine the influence of PPP’s financial, technical, human and managerial support on service delivery in the health sector. The study was grounded on two theories namely: Stakeholders Theory and the Transaction Cost Theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and relied mostly on primary data sources. The study’s target population was the staff working at Githurai 45 CLC project, which included residence doctors, technical staff, community health care nurses, community health workers, Ministry of Health officials and project beneficiaries, totaling to 300 respondents. The sample size for the research study that was a representative of the target population was 169 respondents, derived using Krejcie and Morgan table. This study adopted purposive sampling and stratified random sampling due to the heterogeneous nature of the target population. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used as the study’s research instruments. The quantitative data was coded by the SPSS tool and the descriptive statistics was analyzed by the use of arithmetic means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics using Pearson Moment Correlation was computed to measure the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Data was presented in tables. Qualitative data obtained from the interviews was analyzed according to themes, and constructs aligned to the research objectives. Content analysis identifying similarities and differences that emerged during the interviews were identified. Secondary data obtained from published books, scientific dissertations, peer-reviewed journals and other related scholarly publications were augmented with the primary data. From the study findings, the healthcare service delivery attained a composite mean of 3.141 and standard deviation of 2.850. On the theme of PPP managerial support, the composite mean and standard deviation was found to be 3.516 and 3.195 respectively. On the theme of PPP human support, the composite mean and standard deviation was found to be 2.847 and 2.547 respectively. On the theme of PPP procurement support, the composite mean and standard deviation was found to be 3.280 and 2.939 respectively. On the theme of project PPP financial support, the composite mean and standard deviation was found to be 3.426 and 3.113 respectively. The values of Pearson Correlation Coefficient were found to be ranging from 0.730 to 0.876, indicating that there was a positive correlation between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The study concluded that PPP managerial support, human support, procurement support and financial support influence healthcare service delivery. The study recommended that the financiers should ensure that funds are available and adequate for operations. It also recommended that health project technical staff should have a corresponding technical qualification. The study findings recommended that the government and private partners should work on a modality to ensure that the procurement process is not long and complex. Finally, the study findings recommended that the management should ensure the smooth operations of the projects. Areas for further research were identified