The Pabon Lasso Model is one of the most important and suitable techniques applied in evaluating the performance of hospitals. The visual representation standardizes the comparative accomplishments of hospitals which information is used by planners in effort to improve productivity of the health care system by use of three pointers namely: (i) Average Length of Stay (ALS); (ii) Bed Occupancy Rate (BOR); (iii) Bed Turnover (BTO). The purpose of this study is to evaluate performance of wards in health centers affiliated to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) during the financial year 2012-2013 constructed on Pabon Lasso Model. Data for the nine health centers and two referral hospitals was taken by the nursing sisters who were in charge. To ensure accuracy, a weekly standard report was submitted to head office and the data included: a list of wards, number of beds, admissions, deaths, discharges and inpatient days. For all government health centers and hospitals, overall, the average indicators ALS=3.63 days, BTO= 74.0 times per year and BOR=49.3% were obtained. Based on the Pabon Lasso graph, two wards are in Zone 3, two wards in Zone 4, one ward in Zone 2 and five wards in Zone 1. The performance of health centers and hospitals in Kampala were somehow poor. This represented unacceptable levels of technical deficiency.
The study aimed to assess whether sharing of health services improved service quality in health centers in Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). With multi-stage sampling, data was gathered by face to face interviews, via translators from residents in the five divisions of KCCA, using a questionnaire. Schedules were made with Local Council I chairmen, and support to fill in the questionnaire was given to the respondents. The statistical methods used for analysis included a Chi-square, Spearman correlations and hierarchical regression. The study found that regarding tangibility, sharing health services significantly determines the number of modern medical equipments (p=0.000) and the number of medical personnel that had a neat and professional appearance (p=0.000) but did not determine the number of visually appealing health facilities (p=0.386). Recentralizing health care changed the mode of delivery. Health workers were responsive, reliable and provide better care for patients. There was increased availability of basic medical equipment, and health workers were neater in appearance with increased confidence and hence were better able to provide for the safety of residents.
Study site: clinic, Kampala, Uganda