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You pray to your God: A qualitative analysis of challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care in Uganda
- Source :
- Albutt, Katherine, Rachel R. Yorlets, Maria Punchak, Peter Kayima, Didacus B. Namanya, Geoffrey A. Anderson, and Mark G. Shrime. 2018. “You pray to your God: A qualitative analysis of challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care in Uganda.” PLoS ONE 13 (4): e0195986. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195986. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195986.
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Background: Five billion people lack access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical and anesthesia care. Significant challenges remain in the provision of surgical care in low-resource settings. Uganda is no exception. Methods: From September to November 2016, we conducted a mixed-methods countrywide surgical capacity assessment at 17 randomly selected public hospitals in Uganda. Researchers conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders to understand factors related to the provision of surgical care. The framework approach was used for thematic and explanatory data analysis. Results: The Ugandan public health care sector continues to face significant challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care. These challenges can be broadly grouped into preparedness and policy, service delivery, and the financial burden of surgical care. Hospital staff reported challenges including: (1) significant delays in accessing surgical care, compounded by a malfunctioning referral system; (2) critical workforce shortages; (3) operative capacity that is limited by inadequate infrastructure and overwhelmed by emergency and obstetric volume; (4) supply chain difficulties pertaining to provision of essential medications, equipment, supplies, and blood; (5) significant, variable, and sometimes catastrophic expenditures for surgical patients and their families; and (6) a lack of surgery-specific policies and priorities. Despite these challenges, innovative strategies are being used in the public to provide surgical care to those most in need. Conclusion: Barriers to the provision of surgical care are cross-cutting and involve constraints in infrastructure, service delivery, workforce, and financing. Understanding current strengths and shortfalls of Uganda’s surgical system is a critical first step in developing effective, targeted policy and programming that will build and strengthen its surgical capacity.
- Subjects :
- Medicine and Health Sciences
Surgical and Invasive Medical Procedures
People and Places
Geographical Locations
Africa
Uganda
Obstetric Procedures
Engineering and Technology
Equipment
Physical Sciences
Chemistry
Chemical Elements
Oxygen
Public and Occupational Health
Anesthesiology
Anesthesia
Pharmaceutics
Drug Therapy
Social Sciences
Economics
Finance
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH)
- Journal :
- Albutt, Katherine, Rachel R. Yorlets, Maria Punchak, Peter Kayima, Didacus B. Namanya, Geoffrey A. Anderson, and Mark G. Shrime. 2018. “You pray to your God: A qualitative analysis of challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care in Uganda.” PLoS ONE 13 (4): e0195986. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195986. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195986.
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edshld.1.37068151
- Document Type :
- Journal Article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195986