Assessment of the Implementation of the Cradle-to-Grave Principle in Private Health Care Clinics in the East Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

The Cradle-to-Grave principle is key to the assurance of compliance with the management of health care risk waste (HCRW) in health care facilities. The study aimed to assess the implementation of the Cradle-to-Grave principle in private health care facilities (PHCF) in the East Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. To achieve this aim, the objective was to investigate methods used by PHCFs to manage HCRW. Data was collected from forty facilities; fifty-five questionnaires were administered to forty medical practitioners and fifteen nurses. Quantitative method and a descriptive cross-sectional design were employed. IBM SPSS 25.0 and Microsoft excel 2013 were used to analyse data. The findings revealed that the Cradle-to-Grave principle was not implemented in all PHCFs by nurses and medical practitioners as required by the Health Professions Council of South Africa Guidelines on HCRW Management. The study recommends that PHCFs should be consistent in managing HCRW and apply relevant regulations and standards.