Managing health records in the Bulawayo and Matabeleland South provinces hospitals, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the management of health records in the Bulawayo and Matabeleland South provinces in Zimbabwe. The objectives of the study were to understand how health records were being managed in the two hospitals, to establish the availability of, and analyse standard procedures and guidelines that informed both the National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ) and hospitals in managing health records. The study also sought to establish the level of professional training for health records management staff in hospitals under study. A qualitative case study design was employed and data was gathered through questionnaires, interviews, observation and document analysis. Data was analysed thematically based on the objectives of the study. The study revealed that the strategies for the management of health records in hospitals were inadequate. There were no documented health records management standards to guide the management of these records in hospitals. It was also established that the majority of health records personnel in hospitals did not possess records management qualifications. As a recommendation, the hospitals and NAZ should draft and implement health records management standards to provide guidance on the management of health records. Hospitals should employ staff with the requisite records management qualifications and offer them continuous training.

A hermeneutic review of records management practices in Malawi: a developing country context

“…In the long run, poor records management practices could be costly for any institution. The policy status of records management in Sub-Saharan Africa is mostly consistent with the findings of the current study; the overall state of records management policies in Africa as a whole is still undesirable (Osebe et al , 2018; Masuku and Ngulube, 2020).…”

“…Eventually, this may lead to lapses and dilemmas in executing key decisions such as retention and disposal of records. These findings echo those of other African studies undertaken by Osebe et al (2018) in Kenya, Asogwa et al (2021) in Nigeria, Mosweu (2019) in Botswana and Masuku and Ngulube (2020) in Zimbabwe, which stress that records professionals need to be reskilled to cope within the electronic records landscape.…”

The state of the professionalisation of the records and archives management profession in Zimbabwe

“…Based on the data, the researcher also concluded that the RAM profession was not engaged in image building. This study therefore concluded that the absence of a professional RAM association in Zimbabwe as noted by Masuku (2013), was working against professional image building.…”

“…The findings of this study showed that the Records, Archives and Information Management Association of Zimbabwe (RAIMAZ) was defunct and thus there was no professional association for archivists and records managers in the country. The absence of a professional RAM association was also highlighted by scholars such as Khumalo (2016); Chaterera (2013) and Masuku (2013). Masuku (2013) however, highlighted that efforts are underway to resuscitate RAIMAZ, although at a very slow pace.…”

“…The absence of a professional RAM association was also highlighted by scholars such as Khumalo (2016); Chaterera (2013) and Masuku (2013). Masuku (2013) however, highlighted that efforts are underway to resuscitate RAIMAZ, although at a very slow pace.…”