Who makes health governance decisions at the local level? A cross sectional study from primary health facilities in Tanzania

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lower‐ and middle‐income countries have decentralized decision‐making at the community level, as well as community governance structures, to encourage community participation in governance processes, particularly in primary healthcare (PHC). In Tanzania, decentralization resulted in the establishment of Health Facility Governing Committees (HFGCs) to encourage community participation in the governance of primary health facilities to improve the quality and responsiveness of health service delivery. Nonetheless, despite the presence of HFGCs, PHC delivery remains ineffective and of poor quality. It is unclear who makes governance decisions at PHC facilities to ensure that services delivered are of expected quality and respond the community's needs, tastes, and preferences. This paper aims to assess the perspectives of members of the HFGC on who make governance decision in the context of fiscal decentralization. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross‐section design was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. A four‐multistage sampling technique was adopted to selects regions, council, health facilities, and HFGC members. Respondents who participated in structured questionnaire responses were chosen using proportional sampling, whereas those who participated in in‐depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions were chosen using purposive selection. The data was analyzed descriptively and thematically. RESULTS: The study revealed that HFGCs members perceive that governance decisions in primary health facilities are primarily made by the health facility management, and later are presented in HFGCs. As such, HFGCs are used a passively used to justify participation in decision that was already made by the management, which contradict with the principal of decentralization that emphasizes community participation on fiscal decisions. CONCLUSION: Decentralization of PHC facilities does not guarantee the participation of community members in fiscal decision of their respective primary health facilities through HFGCs. HFGC is passively used governance structure to substitute community participation in primary health facilities' fiscal decisions. Enforcement mechanisms are required to facilitate effective community participation.