Recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with quality standards at primary health care clinics

BACKGROUND: The Republic of South Africa (RSA) is shifting towards universal health coverage and a unified health system. This milestone can be achieved through the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI). To employ NHI, health establishments in the country are compelled to comply with quality standards. The non-compliance with quality standards at primary health care (PHC) clinics within a district in Gauteng, which was verified by quality standards’ audit reports, prompted an intervention. No prior research aimed at facilitating managers’ compliance with quality standards has been conducted within the context under study. This research gap necessitated an exploration on how managers’ compliance to quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng could best be facilitated. OBJECTIVES: To describe recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng. METHOD: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used in this study. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted. RESULTS: The recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng were described. However, for the purpose of this article, only the recommendations seeking to address challenges with management practices as a reason for non-compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics will be discussed. These recommendations include involvement of PHC clinic managers in decision-making, adequate support from senior management and improvement of internal communication practices. CONCLUSION: The researcher concludes that the senior management team in the district under study should strive to embrace the described recommendations as a strategy to facilitate managers’ compliance to quality standards at PHC clinics.