Background: Health is a basic human right necessary for the exercise of other human rights. Every human being is, therefore, entitled to the highest possible standard of health necessary to living a life of dignity. Establishment of patients' Charter is a step towards protecting the rights and responsibilities of patients, but violation of patients' rights is common in healthcare institutions, especially in the developing world. This study which was conducted between May 2013 and May 2014, assessed the operationalization of Ghana's Patients Charter in a peri-urban public hospital. Methods: Qualitative data collection methods were used to collect data from 25 healthcare workers and patients who were purposively selected. The interview data were analyzed manually, using the principles of systematic text condensation.
Results:The findings indicate that the healthcare staff of the Polyclinic are aware of the existence of the patients' Charter and also know some of its contents. Patients have no knowledge of the existence or the contents of the Charter. Availability of the Charter, community sensitization, monitoring and orientation of staff are factors that promote the operationalization of the Charter, while institutional implementation procedures such as lack of complaint procedures and low knowledge among patients militate against operationalization of the Charter. Conclusion: Public health facilities should ensure that their patients are well-informed about their rights and responsibilities to facilitate effective implementation of the Charter. Also, patients' rights and responsibilities can be dramatized and broadcasted on television and radio in major Ghanaian languages to enhance awareness of Ghanaians on the Charter.
The interaction between organizational superiors and their subordinates has a practical implication on the entire organizational life cycle in terms of ethical conduct. This study explores how ethics among public leadership could trickle down on the conduct of public employees by using two empirical cases from developing African countries context. Using the attraction-selection-attrition and social learning models, the study assesses how superiors influence street level bureaucrats' interaction with clients or customers. Drawing from existing cases and other secondary data, we propose a leadership-ethical diffusion model that argues that subordinates' perception and experience of superiors' behavior tend to create a kind of organizational 'ethical groupthink', which spans the rank and file of the organization.
This paper therefore seeks to identify and analyse the factors that may explain the reported mixed results in relation to the impact of performance contract on the performance of public enterprise. The study specifically seeks to identify and analyse the factors that may explain the mixed results in the implementation of PC by public enterprises in Ghana. To achieve the above objective, the study adopted multiple case study strategy. Specifically, four public enterprises representing four cases were randomly sampled based on the performance assessment categorisation by the State Enterprises Commission (SEC). The findings of the study reveals that the content, targets, and objectives in the performance contracts are always specific, clear and measurable. There are however variations in how each of the case formulate performance targets and objectives in the contracts. SOEs in the excellent and above average categories have separate department exclusively in charge of corporate planning and that explains the variations in performance targets and objectives on yearly basis compared to those in categories C and D which show minimal changes with incremental modification to the previous targets objectives. Similarly, the study shows that SOEs in categories and A and B have clearly designed structures and systems for the implementation PC. Moreover, they were found to combine both top-down and bottom up approaches in their PC processes. Although the findings show that all SOEs face similar political inferences, financial and human resources have been identified from the study as vital in contributing to the performance of SOEs in the implementation of performance contact. On the basis of the above findings, this paper recommends among other things, the need for examine the institutional arrangements for formulating and implementing the content of performance contact within SOEs. Furthermore, the approach adopted by SOE A; trainees becoming trainers must be extended to other SOEs to build competent and qualified human resource base for the SOE sector.
Government institutions in Ghana have initiated the use of information technologies to accomplish their objectives. Among these institutions is the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the local government institution that introduced the use of point of sale devices in the collection of rates in 2012. The purpose of the study was to evaluate this digital mode of rate collection at the AMA through the lenses of the concept of e-government failure (Heeks, 2003) and the rational choice theory. Guided by the pragmatic paradigm of social research, a mixed method approach was adopted.
The study sets out to given in-depth analysis of thePublic Private Partnership between the government of Ghana, represented by GWCL and Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd –AVRL from 2005-2011 and to generate an insight on how the implementation process faired from the perspective of implementers in particular, civil society organisations and the public utility workers union. The case study method within the qualitative approach was used for the study. The study also, made use of interview as the research instrument and respondents were purposively selected. The results of the study were subjected to an interpretative analysis combined with secondary data from the literature review. There were several grey areas in the management contract resulting in a number of ambiguities in various parts of the management contract. These ambiguities translated into delays in the implementation process. Also, there appeared to be conflict of interest on the part of GWCL, resulting in weak supervision. Political interference also weakened the structures established for the implementation of the contract. Leadership of GWCL was weakened as result of frequent changes in leadership and the fact that leaders were mostly in acting capacities. Despite the richness of the data, the study encountered a number of difficulties including the unwillingness of some senior level staff to participate in the study limits the diversity of perspectives which otherwise would have broadened the scope of the study. The findings provide deeper understanding to public policy implementation in respect of the management contract between GWCL and AVRL. The paper particularly contributes to the challenges implementers encounter in implementing management contracts from both implementers and non-implementers perspectives. It may also contain lessons for implementers in the private sector.
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