- Title
- Analysis of the role of unions in health services delivery at Uitenhage district hospital
- Creator
- Tshamase, Nozibele Yvonne
- Subject
- Public health Health services accessibility Labor unions
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MPH
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12348
- Identifier
- vital:39255
- Description
- Purpose: According to Khan and Khan (2011:56), a trade union is an organization of employee tasked with activities which include negotiating on behalf of their members for “pay and conditions of employment”. Several authors have purported that these roles extend beyond ensuring not only that the rights of workers are not violated and that their working environment complies with health and safety standards, but also that unions may have an effect on management practices, generally and specifically, on efficiencies and performance (Zulu, 2009; McGuire, 2011; & Dhliwayo, 2012). Health care workers including professionals are organised by the unions in a bid to influence social and economic reforms in the South African democracy. The main aim of this study was to examine the role of public sector unions and how they exercise their functions in delivery of health services Method: A qualitative research method based on phenomenological and case approaches was applied. Semi-structured interviews with open ended questions were used to prompt discussions. Documents were used to obtain complementary data. Senior managers, middle managers, union/employee representatives and employees who are members of the unions in the district hospital of Nelson Mandela Bay health district constituted the target population. Purposive non-probability sampling, which was the preferred method for this study, yielded 16 participants. Results Analysis followed Creswell’s thematic analysis involving coding responses categorising them and identifying themes. This followed repeated and thorough listening to the recorded interviews and transcribing. Themes identified were organisational functioning in line with the service delivery context; worker’s rights protection; negotiating better service conditions; implementing legislation, policies and resolutions; union-management interaction; engaging in strikes and impact on services delivery. Conclusion and Recommendations: The study found that the presence of unions in health care services was necessary because there are various categories of employees – working class – whose interests must be served. The role of the unions leaned heavily towards protection of the rights of the workers. As far as the observation of legislation is concerned, the unions demonstrated knowledge of the legislation applicable to the health care personnel, that is, the BCEA, the LRA and the PSA. The study found that unions were a hindrance to health services delivery in their quest to exercise voice monopoly. The unions tended to exert undue influence on management resulting in lack of discipline and dereliction of duty. The strike actions compromised quality of health care and the rights of citizens to access health care. There was no active participation nor positive contributions in committees where advancement of service delivery standards were deliberated and promoted. Recommendations included training of shop stewards; capacitation and training of managers, and development and communication of departmental labour relations policies.
- Format
- 111 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Nozibele Yvonne Tshamase - Thesis.pdf | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |