Healthcare Workers’ Perception Of Quality Of Routine Care During Covid-19 Pandemic At The Greater Accra Regional Hospital

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2022-05

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University Of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease-2019 is a global pandemic which has claimed the lives of millions of people due to its severity and fast rate of infection through droplets from person-to-person. Though it was first reported in China (SARS-COV 2 and MERS), it has had its toll throughout the world and caused inconsistent flow and placed pressure on the smooth running of healthcare globally including Ghana. Healthcare professionals including routine healthcare workers have been overwhelmed with the emergence of COVID-19 and have faced challenges like psychological trauma, stress, lack and unavailability of personal protective equipment, stigmatization and neglect among others. Objective: The study assessed healthcare workers’ perception of quality of routine care delivery during COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design using a qualitative approach. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with the facility healthcare staff. Participants were purposively selected from the emergency, general Out Patient, pediatric, laboratory, pharmacy and family medicine departments. Recorded interviews were semantically transcribed and coded into themes which were deductively developed based on the study objectives. Data was analyzed using the NVivo version 13 software. Results: Despite the advent of COVID-19, healthcare workers continued to deliver routine healthcare services including checking of vital signs. They also continued to deliver their usual services like emergency, surgical and referral cases during the pandemic. Workers had varied perceptions of the quality of routine healthcare services delivered during this period. With the exception of those few health workers classified as frontline staff, most were not given any motivational incentives. There were also challenges with logistics as well as increased workload in the delivery of routine services. More so, healthcare workers suffered some psychological and emotional challenges such as stress, fear and panic and others who knew about their profession stigmatized them. Some staff learned how to make sanitizers on their own and also got the opportunity to familiarize themselves with telemedicine as a means of coping with COVID-19. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need to pay extra attention to routine services even under pandemics as healthcare providers delivering such services are also challenged with psychological, logistics and staff strength issues for the effective delivery of services. There is therefore the need to train people to specifically take care of public emergencies and keep a good staff strength to attend to routine services in such cases. The use of telemedicine or tele-consultation in our health systems in order to reduce the pressure and psychological challenges that mounts on healthcare workers as a result of face-to-face interactions with patients during pandemics is strongly recommended.

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Healthcare Workers, Covid-19 Pandemic, Greater Accra Regional Hospital

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