- Title
- Exploring challenges in implementing a health referral system in the Buffalo city metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Cape Province”
- Creator
- Matolengwe, Aseza
- Subject
- Primary health care
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MPH
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18441
- Identifier
- vital:42266
- Description
- The purpose of the study is to explore and describe challenges experienced by health professionals regarding implementation of the referral system used in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in the Eastern Cape Province. A referral system in health care can be defined as a method whereby a health worker with insufficient skills and less resources in the primary health care setting, who has fewer remedies or options to manage medical conditions, seeks assistance from a more senior practitioner in a tertiary setting with better resources to provide guidance in managing the patient or to take over the management of the patient (Eastern Cape Department of Health, 2007:7). A qualitative descriptive explorative contextual design was used to explore and describe the challenges pertaining to the implementation of a referral system in the public health sector in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in the Eastern Cape. A purposive sampling technique was employed with an inclusion criteria of health care professionals who are doctors, professional nurses, pharmacists and specialists. After obtaining ethical clearance from the respective departments, steps for data collection were implemented. Individual interviews were conducted using an interview guide that was prepared by the researcher. Findings in the study indicate that there are challenges in implementing a referral system in relation to infrastructure, workforce capacity, equipment, transport and drug availability. The participants provided suggestions according to their experiences on what they felt the Department of Health in BCMM could do to strengthen the referral system in place. The researcher then provided recommendations to the Department of Health of BCMM. The health referral system in BCMM needs to be strengthened through provision of adequate infrastructure, improving workforce capacity, and availability of medicines and equipment. A monitoring and evaluation plan must be affected by the Eastern Cape Department of Health. Education and training are needed for the health care workers and the community through their involvement in stakeholder meetings
- Format
- 116 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty OF Health Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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