Exploring quality standards implementation at a South African municipality’s health facilities

BACKGROUND: Despite government initiatives to ensure the delivery of safe and high-quality care in health establishments, most health establishments in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa were non-compliant with the National Core Standards. This study explored the experiences of quality assurance managers regarding quality standards implementation in these establishments. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore and describe factors affecting the implementation of quality standards at public health facilities based on quality assurance managers’ lived experiences in the research setting. METHOD: This qualitative study used phenomenological design by conducting individual in-depth interviews with nine purposively selected quality assurance managers in 2021. The collected data were analysed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological analysis framework. RESULTS: The study’s findings revealed that the legislative framework and the policy environment were motivators for quality standard compliance among the participants. Furthermore, human resources, materials-related issues and poor infrastructure were found to be barriers to the implementation of quality standards in health facilities. CONCLUSION: The explored and described barriers must be addressed to improve compliance with the National Core Standards at public health facilities in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. In addition, capacity-building for quality assurance managers should be ongoing to ensure the highest quality implementation standards and to strengthen the enforcement of quality standard regulations. CONTRIBUTION: The study’s findings explored and described the factors that influence the implementation of quality standards. Addressing these factors could improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the research setting’s health facilities.