Working conditions of health personnel: its implications for the sustainability of the national health insurance scheme in Cape Coast metropolis

Abstract

The inadequacy of reach-all health budgets in many developing countries has usually been a matter of political and social concern in several countries affected by budgetary constraints. In a bid to achieve some level of equity in health care, Ghana officially introduced National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2004. This study sought to investigate conditions under which health personnel work to ensure the sustainability of the NHIS. The study used triangulation method, which involved the use of multiple sources and methods to collect data from health workers and some clients of the NHIS. Results of the study showed that health personnel had limited personal experiences with the legal framework establishing the scheme. It was also, revealed that notwithstanding the increases in patronage of health services since the introduction of the NHIS, this has not been matched with required health infrastructure. Nonetheless, most of the health personnel are relatively satisfied in responding to the needs of NHIS policyholders. Some policy holders are equally satisfied with services provided them by health workers and that they were willing to sustain their membership of the scheme. To make the NHIS more sustainable, it is recommended that the authorities should provide some incentives to the workers as well as commit some of their proceeds to improving health infrastructural facilities that provide services to majority of their clients.