Users' perspective of medical logistics supply chain system in Ghana: The case of Adansi South District Health Directorate

Abstract

In the current system of medical logistics supply chain in Ghana, and especially in the Adansi South District Health Administration, there is little or no evidence of the assessment of users' perspective and satisfaction with the procurement procedure and importantly of the effectiveness and use of medical items supplied to the hospital. This study is therefore meant to look at the management of medical logistics, its procurement and perspective of end users on the entire system. This is a descriptive type with a cross-sectional design, intended to provide descriptive information relative to the perspective of health workers who use medical logistics in health facilities. The key findings include that (i) there is a poor collation of patients' needs during procurement planning because the planning is centralized. This is justified because the current practices cannot provide adequate, complete and reliable information for consideration in the planning process; (ii) there is lack of involvement of people at the operational level in the procurements planning; (iii) the delayed payment of suppliers, poor delivery time by suppliers, delay in evaluating bids and poor attitude of supply officers are the factors that contribute to delay in procurement systems in the district.