Evaluation of facilitative supervision visits in primary health care service delivery in Northern Ghana

BACKGROUND: In Ghana’s health delivery services, facilitative supervisory visit (FSV) as a system of management is new. This paper presents the standard evaluation results of FSV, which formed an integral part of the community-based health planning services (CHPS) initiative. METHODS: The study was conducted in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The Project developed guidelines and tools for FSV for four different health system levels – regional, district, sub-district and community levels. Electronic data from all four levels representing quarterly results were compiled into their annual equivalents, and summarized graphically for comparison. RESULTS: The data show that all the nine districts embraced the FSV concept even though they differed markedly with regard to the degree of adherence to some set benchmarks. Three DHMTs (Wa Municipal, Lawra and Jirapa) were graded as good while the remaining six DHMTs were adjudged as fair in relation to management of supplies, transport and equipment, information, meeting, and technical support. CONCLUSIONS: The data further suggest that there is much to gain both individually and institutionally from FSVs. Generally, FSVs are crucial to the delivery of primary health care services in especially rural areas.