The Influence of Health Workers' Pay Practice on the Level of Service Delivery:

Abstract

This study: “The influence of health workers’ pay practice on the level of service delivery” was undertaken to determine the influence of public health workers’ pay on the level of health service delivery at CUFHN. The study objectives were: to determine the pay practice of healthcare workers; to determine the level of service delivery; to establish the relationship between pay practice of healthcare workers and level of service delivery; and to identify other proportionate factors determining level of service delivery. A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted; probability purposive extreme case sampling was used to select a total of 100 respondents. Closed-ended questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. The key findings were : 44% cadres had an experience of (6-10) years; different cadres receive differing amounts of basic salary, 41% agreed to the salary being competitive with other workers, 65% disagreed (saying that the salary is not in accordance with their experience), 64% disagreed (saying that the salary is not in accordance with their responsibilities), 69% disagreed with the current pay, and 59% responded that they do not receive their salary promptly. Of the staff interviewed 50% were satisfied with the extent of the responsibility their job afforded them, 38% accepted that sometimes there are frequent joint meetings between different departments, 35% sometimes participated in decision-making, 73% accepted that most of the time there is assessment of work performance and feedback, 68% indicated that there is high information flow to and from hospital management, 75% acknowledged the perceived concern by management for health worker welfare. Using chi-square the relationship between health workers pay practice and the level service delivery at CUFHN was positive. The research thus recommends that there is need to structure the salary in accordance with experience, responsibility, and also make payments promptly in order to achieve effective service delivery. Furthermore, there is need to increase the frequency of meeting between different departments, as well as the cadres’ participation in decision making.