A Comparative Study of the State of Clinical Governance in Public, Private and Service Command Health Care Institutions in Ghana

Abstract

Clinical governance is the process of steering the overall functioning and effective performance of a hospital by defining its mission, setting objectives and, having them realized at the operational level and its implementation ensures effectiveness and efficiency. However, the failure of healthcare institutions to adopt and implement clinical governance leads to a number of healthcare challenges. This study aimed at investigating the state of clinical governance within the healthcare institutions in Ghana by comparing the private, public and the service command healthcare institutions, and this was done by adopting a descriptive research design and a purposive sampling technique to select thirty-six (36) participants. Data obtained was analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis, where themes were generated out of transcribed data. The findings revealed that, the state of clinical governance in the various hospitals in Ghana especially the private and service command healthcare institutions was good with measures put in place to ensure its effectiveness. However, this was not the case the public healthcare institutions. It also found that, the major challenge that hindered the effectiveness of clinical governance in public healthcare institutions with regards to attending to patients was the inability of these institutions to automate their systems. The findings again revealed that, barriers such as lack of resources and logistics, lack of funds, lack of skilled personnel and expertise, inadequacy of regulation, monitoring, poor performance, and lack of review and evaluation of the activities performed plagued the effectiveness of clinical governance in the various healthcare institutions in Ghana. The study recommended that, the government should show more commitment to public healthcare institutions in the country and should also develop policies and strategies that could be used in these healthcare institutions to achieve effective clinical governance.