Abstract
Aim
The standard of health care service is very important to the development of every nation as indicated in the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals. There are already a growing number of reports in developing countries on the quality of health care. Nevertheless, there is scant literature in Ghana regarding the quality of health care provided by private and public health care providers. This study sought to assess and compare the quality of health care services rendered by public and private hospitals in the metropolitan cities of Ghana.
Subject and Methods
The study target population was patients using the selected health care facilities involved in this study. This study followed quantitative methods using a social survey designed questionnaire to obtain data from 255 hospital participants receiving care.
Results
The findings revealed that in contrast with the public hospitals, private hospitals offered patients a higher quality of health care services. There was no difference in meaning in terms of consistency; however, the biggest explanation was that private hospitals aimed at increasing profits and tried to attract customers to retain them as compared to public hospitals that offered basic social services to an enormous number of patients.
Conclusion
The study concluded that better health care services are provided by private hospitals. It was recommended that public health care providers should improve upon their quality health care services as more people visit the public health care centres due to their low health care cost.
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Data Availability
The study data and materials can be accessed by contacting Awinaba Amoah Adongo at awinabaadongo@gmail.com or +233249122566.
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The study was conceptualized by Nachinaab John Onzaberigu. He contributed in the write-up and data collection. The study was systematically reviewed by Awinaba Amoah Adongo. He also analysed the data and worked on the technical aspect. Dr. Francess Azumah Dufie was the main supervisor for the project and provided useful input to the study.
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We adhered to the ethical principles outlined by the America Sociological Association (ASA) (1997). We obtained an ethical clearance from the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to contact facilities to obtain entry permission and to introduce the researchers and their purpose.
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Adongo, A.A., Azumah, F.D. & Nachinaab, J.O. A comparative study of quality of health care services of public and private hospitals in Ghana. J Public Health (Berl.) 30, 1809–1815 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01479-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01479-0