The impact of the outsourced North West Medical Depot on healthcare service delivery : a case of the North West Medical Depot

Abstract

The main task of the North West Medical depot is warehousing, procurement and distribution of medicines and surgical sundries. The purpose of this study was to indicate to the Department of Health whether healthcare service delivery to hospitals and ultimately to the people of this Province has improved or not, since, the Department outsourced the service as provided by the Depot. It is evident from the literature that due to changes that regularly occur in the global world, outsourcing is regarded by many companies or institutions as a strategic tool to enables them to focus on their core competencies. Many businesses use outsourcing as a strategy to meet the challenges as posed by the ever-changing business environments. Structured questionnaires were used to gather information in all regions. Since the study was a survey type of research, the method used in data collection was the self-administered questionnaires. In addition, a list of randomly selected essential drugs and surgical sundries were circulated to all the institutions which were part of the sample. A sample of eighty-one

(81) pharmacy personnel from a population of one hundred and sixty two (162), were selected at random. The results of the study have indicated that the majority of the participants were satisfied with how the Depot is performing; even though there were certain few participants who were not satisfied in certain areas. These are the areas where the Depot wiII have to focus on. With regard to essential drugs availability, the Depot has done very well. The results indicated that essential drugs availability is above the target as set by the Department. With regard to outsourcing as a Departmental strategy, most participants indicated that the service had improved since the Department outsourced the Medical Depot. This implies that the strategy was really working. The following recommendations are based on what the study has revealed about the service as provided by the depot: * Even though the majority of participants were satisfied with the Mmabatho Medical Stores client Service, attention should be given to the depot's respond time to out of stock. * The depot should strengthen the working relationship that has already been established. * Improvement should be made on the present motivation or buy-out and Direct Deliveries in order to ensure uninterrupted supply of medicines.