Table 7.
Factors influencing the average time taken to accomplish health service activities.
| Health Professional | Health Service Activities | Facility Workload Level | Unit Workload Level | Availability of Tools and Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Practitioner (Generalist Doctor) | Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a new out-patient case | 0.006 | 0.04 | 0.07 |
| Review of a follow-up out-patient case (old cases) | −0.192 | −0.14 | −0.15 | |
| Review of inpatient per patient day (daily ward rounds) | 0.043 | 0.33 | −0.01 | |
| Referral of a patient | 0.068 | 0.14 | −0.21 | |
| Minor surgical procedures (e.g., suturing lacerations, incision and drainage) | 0.349 | 0.33 | −0.16 | |
| Major surgical procedures | 0.171 | 0.33 | −0.12 | |
| Patient education and counselling | 0.095 | 0.14 | 0.10 | |
| Interventions for minor (simple) medical emergencies | −0.069 | −0.02 | −0.03 | |
| Interventions for moderate-to-severe medical emergencies | −0.065 | −0.02 | 0.13 | |
| Interventions for critically ill medical emergencies | 0.165 | 0.24 | 0.18 | |
| Physician Assistant (Medical) | Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a new out-patient case | −0.099 | −0.303 * | −0.25 |
| Review of a follow-up out-patient case (old cases) | −0.129 | −0.319 * | −0.17 | |
| Review of inpatient per patient day (daily ward rounds) | −0.042 | −0.351 * | −0.339 * | |
| Referral of a patient | −0.044 | −0.14 | −0.444 ** | |
| Minor surgical procedures (e.g., suturing lacerations, incision and drainage) | −0.283 | −0.0348 * | −0.355 * | |
| Patient education and counselling | −0.314* | −0.04 | 0.27 | |
| Interventions for minor (simple) medical emergencies | 0.072 | −0.07 | −0.13 | |
| Interventions for moderate-to-severe medical emergencies | 0.107 | −0.04 | −0.07 | |
| Interventions for critically ill medical emergencies | 0.414 ** | 0.25 | −0.01 | |
| Midwife | Antenatal care (ANC) consultation | 0.254 | 0.11 | 0.22 |
| Postnatal care (PNC) consultation | 0.313 * | 0.21 | 0.10 | |
| Family planning service (non-invasive procedure) | 0.434 * | 0.29 | −0.12 | |
| Family planning service (invasive procedure) | 0.549 * | 0.37 | −0.08 | |
| Prevention of Mother-To-Child (PMTC) transmission of HIV during antenatal care visit | 0.192 | −0.16 | −0.15 | |
| Vaginal delivery | −0.043 | −0.19 | −0.15 | |
| Inpatient care per patient day (routine care for mother) | 0.012 | −0.21 | −0.20 | |
| Inpatient care per patient day (routine care for new-born) | 0.354 * | 0.07 | −0.20 | |
| Admission processes per patient | 0.267 | 0.23 | 0.09 | |
| Discharge processes per patient | 0.319 | 0.33 | 0.02 | |
| Preparing a patient for caesarean section | 0.495 * | 0.23 | −0.09 | |
| Patient education and counselling | 0.454 ** | 0.06 | 0.14 | |
| In-patient management of complications of pregnancy | 0.422 * | 0.22 | 0.26 | |
| Clinical Nurse (Registered General Nurse & Enrolled Nurse) | Out-patient care (triaging, vital signs and history taking) | 0.056 | −0.04 | 0.12 |
| Out-patient consultation | 0.051 | 0.00 | 0.07 | |
| Admission processes per patient | 0.156 * | 0.167* | 0.00 | |
| Discharge processes per patient | 0.013 | −0.02 | 0.05 | |
| Pre-Operative preparation of patients | 0.240 ** | 0.03 | 0.04 | |
| Post-operative management which is different from routine care | 0.169 | 0.268 ** | −0.04 | |
| Inpatient care per patient day (routine care) for low dependent cases or mildly ill patients | 0.062 | 0.04 | −0.02 | |
| Inpatient care per patient day (routine care) for moderately dependent cases | −0.134 | −0.03 | −0.333 ** | |
| Inpatient care per patient day (routine care) for highly dependent cases or critically ill patients | 0.028 | 0.04 | 0.152 * | |
| Discharge patient education and counselling | −0.004 | −0.01 | −0.02 | |
| Minor surgical procedures (suturing lacerations, incision and drainage, wound dressings) | 0.181 * | 0.10 | 0.03 | |
| Community Health Nurse | Family planning | 0.227 | 0.24 | 0.16 |
| Out-patient consultation to manage minor ailments | −0.079 | 0.02 | −0.14 | |
| Referral of patients | −0.248 | −0.26 | 0.09 | |
| Patient education and counselling | 0.157 | 0.19 | −0.01 | |
| Home visiting (minutes per each home visit) | −0.162 | 0.05 | −0.03 | |
| School health (minutes per each pupil) | 0.175 | 0.04 | 0.18 | |
| Immunisation (minutes per child immunised) | 0.073 | 0.24 | 0.19 | |
| Growth monitoring (minutes per child) | −0.045 | 0.21 | 0.17 | |
| Laboratory Scientist/Technician | Sample taking and processing | −0.189 | −0.03 | 0.26 |
| Full blood count (using an automated machine) | 0.214 | 0.289 * | 0.06 | |
| Rapid diagnostic tests (Malaria, HIV, etc.) | −0.128 | −0.04 | −0.15 | |
| Malaria test using microscopy | −0.014 | 0.02 | 0.12 | |
| Urine routine examination | 0.032 | 0.07 | −0.15 | |
| Stool routine examination | 0.116 | 0.24 | 0.288 * | |
| Blood sugar test | 0.308 * | 0.327 * | 0.23 | |
| Blood donor bleeding | −0.017 | −0.05 | −0.01 | |
| Preparing blood for transfusion | 0.036 | 0.05 | −0.21 | |
| Blood chemistry (minutes per sample) | 0.304 * | 0.294 * | 0.28 | |
| Culture and sensitivity analysis (minutes per sample) | 0.093 | 0.16 | 0.22 | |
| Pharmacist/Pharmacy Technician | Prescription auditing and dispensing for out-patient cases | −0.064 | 0.06 | 0.16 |
| Prescription auditing and dispensing for in-patient cases | −0.272 | −0.25 | 0.05 | |
| Prescription refilling for chronic conditions | 0.072 | 0.11 | −0.06 | |
| Pharmaceutical interventions to correct prescription errors | −0.064 | 0.28 | 0.10 | |
| Patient adherence counselling and education | −0.301 | −0.15 | 0.02 |
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Facility workload level was measured on a scale of 0 to 5 (where 0 is no workload and 5 is the heaviest workload possible in any health facility); Unit workload level was measured on a scale of 0 to 5 (where 0 is no workload and 5 is the greatest workload possible in any Unit in the facility); Availability to tools and equipment was measured on a scale of 0 to 5 (where 0 is a situation all the tools/equipment are not available, and 5 is a situation that all tools/equipment are available