General Health Service Readiness among the Public and Private Health Facilities of Kathmandu, Nepal

Background  

The national survey done in 2015 shows that only one health institution among ten health institutions has access to internet facilities. Quality service is one of the basic rights of citizens. The constitution of Nepal describes that every citizen shall have equal access to basic quality services. The government of Nepal has always focused on the improvement of quality services and has formulated many plans, policies, and acts to improve the quality of health services. This study aimed to assess health service readiness in public and private hospitals in Nepal.  

Methods and materials  

The data for the analysis was collected using the inventory questionnaire collected information on recruitment, staffing, training, infrastructure, medicines, supplies, and healthcare services offered in public and private health facilities. It also assessed the service readiness among health workers of selected 3 public and 3 private hospitals within acceptable standards. The WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) manual were used to guide the selection of indicators to measure the general service readiness of the health facilities. Linear regression analysis was conducted to find the relationship between the facility readiness and the covariates, i.e., facility-level indicators.  

Results  

The average general health service readiness score of study facilities was 75. A remarkable difference was observed in the mean readiness index of hospitals (government and private). Health facilities in the public hospital had a low mean readiness score (59.3) compared to those in public health facilities (90.7), a significant difference was detected in multivariate analysis. There is a positive association between the supervision within 6 months.  

Conclusions  

Public health facilities had a poorer status in the availability of health workers, essential medicine, standard precautions for infection prevention, and diagnostic capacity than the availability of basic equipment and amenities. Hence, improving the availability of timely consultation, essential medicine, infection prevention, and diagnostic capacity with high priority, and focusing on client feedback is crucial to developing acceptable and effective health care service.