Open AccessExperiences of COVID-19 patients admitted in a government infectious disease hospital in Nepal and its implications for health system strengthening: A qualitative study
Author(s) -
Anup Bastola,
Rolina Dhital,
Richa Shah,
Madhusudan Subedi,
Pawan Kumar Hamal,
Carmina Shrestha,
Bimal Sharma Chalise,
Kijan Maharjan,
Richa Nepal,
Sagar Kumar Rajbhandari
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0261524
Subject(s) - workforce , thematic analysis , government (linguistics) , public health , medicine , health facility , health care , qualitative research , service delivery framework , health policy , corporate governance , nursing , business , public relations , environmental health , economic growth , service (business) , political science , health services , finance , marketing , population , sociology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , economics
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health systems in many ways. It has put unprecedented strain on health systems worldwide and exposed gaps in public health infrastructure. A health system comprises all institutions and resources working towards improving and maintaining health. Among the different aspects of health system strengthening, a patient’s experiences and expectations play a crucial role in determining how well the health facilities function. This study aims to explore health system strengthening’s implications based on experiences and feedback provided by COVID-19 patients admitted to a government tropical and infectious disease hospital in Nepal. Methods In this qualitative study, we collected the voluntary handwritten feedback by the admitted COVID-19 patients to document the feedback and experiences from a book, maintained by the hospital. We performed thematic content analysis using the World Health Organization’s six building blocks of health system as a theoretical framework which included service delivery, health workforce, information, leadership and governance, financing, and access to medicines. Results Most patients in this study had positive experiences on service delivery and health workforce. Some also highlighted the gaps in infrastructure, cleanliness, and hygiene. Many suggested positive experiences on other dimensions of the health system such as financing, governance and leadership, and access to medicines reflected upon by the patients’ thankfulness to the hospital and the government for the treatment they received. The responses also reflected the inter-connectedness between the different building blocks of health system. Conclusion This study approached a unique way to strengthen the health system by exploring patients’ feedback, which suggested an overall positive impression on most building blocks of health system. However, it also highlighted certain gaps in infrastructure, cleanliness, and hygiene. It reinforces the hospital management and government’s role to continue its efforts to strengthen the health system.