Employee Morale and Health Service Delivery in Amuru District

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between Employee Morale and Health Service delivery in in Amuru district covering 2013-2018. It examined the following objectives: To examine the relationship between work environment and health service delivery in AmuruDistrict,To ascertain the relationship between employee training and health service delivery inAmuruDistrict, To determine the relationship between employee engagement and health service delivery in Amuru District. The researcher employed a cross-sectional survey design to explore the relationship between employee morale and health service delivery in Amuru district. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted to capture the opinions and the views of the various responds. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to source out quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The study population was 150 and the sample size of 108 was derived. From this sample, only 97 respondents returned the fully completed questionnaires. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used for selection of the study respondents. The study findings revealed that the working environment was not favorable for the health personnel in Amuru as infrastructure was inadequate especially the wards at HC IIIs, lacked medical equipment and drug stock-ins were inconsistent. Study findings further revealed that trainings were done but most of the medical personnel focused more on the monetary aspect instead of focusing on knowledge and skills acquisition. From the findings it was established that health workers were not fully engaged at health centres because of poor remuneration, delayed pay and low morale thus poor health service delivery in Amuru district. It was therefore concluded that work environment was central to effective health service delivery. In addition, training equips employees with skills to deliver quality services and employee engagement helps workers to stay focused on their work and deliver quality services. From the findings it was recommended that working conditions must be improved by improving infrastructure, providing enough funds for medical equipment and improving workforce technologies so that they carry out their jobs diligently. Besides, professional capabilities of health personnel should be developed and more recruitment should be done to fill the gap of the medical cadres. Lastly, issues of employee remuneration need to be considered, in an effort to raise their morale.