Contribution of health service administrators to effective health care

Behind every functional healthcare system is a health services manager.

In Ghana, health services managers, referred to as Health Service Administrators (HSAs), work behind the scenes to ensure that healthcare delivery in the country works efficiently and effectively to deliver quality services to clients, patients and the general public.

HSAs are responsible for the day-to-day running of health facilities by providing conducive environment for doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers to do their job efficiently and effectively.

The HSA plans, implements and monitors policies, procedures and performance standards for health staff to ensure delivery of quality health service to clients.

They actively take lead roles in the mobilisation of resources.

In Ghana, HSAs have always remained the lifeline of the country's health facilities, going the extra mile to ensure that basic services are provided to people in need.

HSAs also ensures the sustenance of facilities through the judicious management of human, financial, logistics and other health resources.

To ensure they remain relevant in the health sector, HSAs found it necessary to come together to form an Association of Health Services Administrators of Ghana (AHSAG).

History, objectives

AHSAG started as an Association of Health Services Administration Students at the School of Administration, now Business School of the University of Ghana in the1960s.

It was formerly established in 1975 as an autonomous and non-profit association, embracing all health service administrators.

In 1986, the maiden annual conference of the association was successfully held at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, after which subsequent meetings had been held in various parts of the country.

The association was officially registered with the Registrar General’s Department on July 14, 1995, and issued with a certificate of incorporation under the Companies Act of Ghana, 1963 (Act 179) as amended.

AHSAG is currently the professional body for Health Service Administrators with the prime objective of bringing together health service administrators in Ghana as a unified body to promote excellence in their output.

HSAs works within the Ghana Health Service, Teaching Hospitals, the Mental Health Authority, Universities, CHAG, quasi-government health institutions, HeFRA, Allied
Health Professionals council, and other agencies of the MoH and private healthcare facilities across the country.

Contribution

The contribution of administrators to health care is as important as providing patient care. Administrators make policies, enhance efficiencies of medical teams and advocate change in policies, while carrying out their responsibility of improving healthcare delivery.

The display of professionalism by members of the HSAs has led to the smooth operations at health facilities in the country.

However, their work is sometimes hampered by some heads of health institutions who do not have the managerial know-how of running such facilities.

To this end, the President of AHSAG, Mr Fred Effah-Yeboah, who is also the Administrator of the KATH, has suggested that heads of health institutions be given some level of training in healthcare management to enable them to appreciate the work and importance of health administrators.

He also lamented the recruitment of unqualified people without the requisite professional qualification and training by employers as health administrators.

On the way forward, Mr Effah-Yeboah said the association would offer continuing professional education for members to update their knowledge to meet the current and changing trends in healthcare delivery.

"Until recently, HSAs were trained at the School of Administration, now Business School of the University of Ghana, but now they are trained in other public and private institutions. We urge such institutions to collaborate with health authorities on their curriculum to make their products fully acceptable and qualified as administrators in the country," he said.

The president said even though they had come together as an association, HSAs did not have a regulatory body.

They, therefore, intend to establish a relevant regulatory body through legislation to change the association into a chartered institute to ensure the maintenance of professional standards in the practice of health administration and management.

Mr Effah-Yeboah further stated that the implementation of a Single Spine Salary Structure has made the conditions of members of AHSAG in public health facilities worse off in terms of placement and market premium, saying, the situation needs the immediate attention of relevant stakeholders.

Annual conference

Pursuant to the directive of AHSAG, the association organises annual conferences with education-oriented workshops geared towards updating the knowledge and improving personal and professional skills of members. They also meet to exchange information and ideas on ways of improving health service management.

This year’s conference will be on the theme: "Effective contract management in the public sector, the role of the health service administrator".

The 43rd AHSAG conference and continuing professional education programme, is being held in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, from November 5 to 8, 2019. Participants include members of HSAs across the country who are deliberating on the theme for the conference and other related matters of national health.

The objective of the conference is to sensitise HSAs on the importance of effective contract management, ensure that HSAs understand the contracting environment, including the impact of amendments and variations in contract management.