MANAGERIAL ETHICS AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

In the Kenyan public health sector, the delivery of services has been termed as challenging and poor. Cases of erratic supplies, supply of counterfeit drugs and shortage of essential medicines has been on the increase in the public health sector in Kenya. Some of these challenges have been linked to poor managerial ethics. As a result, this study interrogated the influence of managerial ethics on service delivery in public health facilities in Nairobi County, Kenya through the Expectancy and the Principal-Agent Theories. The contextual scope of the study was the 8 be level 4, 5 and 6 public health facilities in Nairobi County comprising of Sub County Hospitals, County Hospitals and National Referral Hospitals. The study targeted a total of 64 respondents comprising of Medical Superintendent, Health Administrative Officers in Charge of Maintenance, Health Administrative Officers in Charge of Supplies, Health Administrative Officers in Charge of Support Staff, Health Administrative Officers in Charge of Accounts, Health Administrative Officers in Charge of Records, Nursing Officer in Charge and Head of Clinical Departments from each of the 8 health facilities who were selected through stratified and purposive sampling procedures. Through a structured questionnaire, the study collected quantitative data and analyzed it using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22. Descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted by the study. The results presentation was through tables and figures. This regression results showed that other factors held constant, Public Health Service Delivery in Nairobi county faces a negative outcome. However, with introduction of managerial ethics, specifically, professionalism and merit, there is a significant improvement in Public Health Service Delivery. The study recommends that public policy makers in the health sector need to come up with policies which aim to uphold professionalism among the practitioners in this field. There is also need to come up with policies that would guide adoption of merit in regard to recruitment, promotions, rewarding and employee recognition.

Key Words: Managerial Ethics, Professionalism, Merit, Service Delivery, Public Health Facilities