INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP ROLE ON HEALTH SECTOR SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE DEVOLVED UNITS IN WESTERN KENYA REGION

Authors: Pamela Nafula Nyongesa, Prof. Maria Onyango & Dr. Elijah Museve

ABSTRACT

With the inception of county governments in Kenya in 2013, the citizenry expected that there will be efficient service delivery in the public health sector following the devolving of the health function to county governments, yet a large proportion of the citizenry still raises many questions on the efficacy of delivery of services in the public health sector. The sector is still grappling with the challenge of the inability to provide sustainable access to quality and affordable healthcare through health institutions and healthcare workers aim at delivering efficient and quality health services to their clientele. This has been occasioned by frequent strikes by HRH disrupting the only health system accessible to the poor majority in the country. The performance of an organization is dependent on the way employees’ behavior and efforts are managed and directed by leadership towards the attainment of goals. This study’s objective was therefore to determine the influence of leadership role on the health service delivery in the devolved units in western Kenya. For this study, the target population was 1,892 HRH from the five cadres; from both counties and 1,655 inpatients over 5 years of age. A sample size of 201 health workers (medical officers, Clinical Officers, Nurses, Pharmaceutical Technologists/Technicians, Laboratory Technologists/Technicians, and 166 in-patients was determined using Krejcie & Morgan’s (1970) sample size determination table, and proportional allocation was used to obtain samples from each stratum. Multi-stage, purposive and simple random sampling procedures were used to get the health facilities to participate in the study. Stratified cluster sampling, purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to include a pre-described sample target. Structured questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data from the human resources for health and in charge of cadres respectively. An explanatory research design was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics which included correlational and Simple Linear Regression Analysis on SPSS (version 23). The leadership role variable had a significantly strong positive relationship with the service delivery in devolved units (r = 0.764 > 0.5, p = 0.000<0.05). The study recommends that policy and research issues should focus on how leadership systems and styles impact on the management of health service delivery in public healthcare facilities in Kenya. Leaders in the public health sector in the devolved units in Kenya should work on encouraging a sense of purpose in the teams and encourage open communication in their organizations in order to enhance service delivery to the citizenry.

Keywords: Leadership role; leadership styles; Health Sector; Service Delivery; Devolved Units, Human Resource for Health

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