An assessment of public private partnerships in the healthcare sector in Uganda : a case of government referral hospitals

Abstract

The current study examined the role of Public-Private Partnerships in the Healthcare sector in Uganda: A case study of government referral hospitals. The study determined a sample size of 160 eligible participants, where a purposive sampling procedure was used to collect qualitative data from 32 informants, using interview guides. Whereas, the snowball technique was employed to collect quantitative data from 160 respondents, using survey questions. The study findings show that the healthcare sector of Uganda is too large, challenging, and demanding for the government to fully finance its programmes and ensure primary healthcare coverage. Accordingly, the study results show that the government of Uganda has embraced PPPs and contracted several private partners to provide improved health facilities through the design, building, and financing of health projects. Thus, the PPPs have helped the government to bridge the financial gaps through funding of many health programmes and infrastructural development, and human resource capacity through recruitment, training, and capacity building of staff. This study maintains that PPPs provide improved health services and medical supplies such as, ARVs, medical beds, surgical equipment, mosquito nets, and clinical and non-clinical support like, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) counseling services on time and in an efficient manner. Though the government has taken a general form of the PPPs model in the healthcare sector. With regards to the best health PPP model, the study results indicate that Integrated Clinical Services is the best health PPPs model for the healthcare sector in Uganda. Although PPPs play a critical role in improving health services and infrastructural development, and health promotion in Uganda, they face some critical challenges along the way. The current study found the following: political interference, bureaucracy in the process of implementing a health project or service, conflict of interest, the parallel working relationship amongst PPPs workers, poor communication and coordination, a discrepancy in compensation structure, advanced equipment provided by private partners that outmatches the users' knowledge, insufficient funding and a poor sustainability plan, collision on the same projects, as well as others that require both policy and administrative solutions.