Influence of Procurement Training Strategies on Delivery of Pharmaceutical Products in Public Health Facilities in Subukia Sub County, Nakuru

Abstract

Pharmaceutical services are one of the key activities that sustain health care systems. If they are not properly managed, it can lead to massive challenges in the health care including deaths and disabilities. Training in the procurement of the pharmaceutical products forms one of the basic requirements for a sound procurement process. If the staffs are all trained in the pharmaceutical procurement process, there are likelihood of stock outs, overstocking, poor quality products, highly priced commodities and delays in the delivery of the pharmaceutical products. Nakuru County being one of the forty seven counties in Kenya has a large population that mainly seeks medical attention in government health facilities within the county. This study therefore focused on how training strategies was to improve on pharmaceutical products delivery in Subukia Sub County. The researcher was guided by three theories in his work, namely cognitive theory, Innovation theory and the Devolution theory. The target population for the study was 198 staffs working in the 11 health institutions. The sample size was 132 staff members. The sampling was both simple random and stratified sampling involving Pharmacy department, Facility in charges, Procurement department, Human Resource department, Training department (capacity building) and Store department. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected by use of structured questionnaires, through which primary and secondary data was obtained. The collected data was then analysed using SPSS and presented. The research findings were discussed and analysed in form of tables. It was found that there was a specific procurement area taught and the training materials were adequate. Moreover, the competence of trainers influenced the outcome of training. It was also found that there was monitoring of the allocated procurement training resources and that there was a fair availability of the training equipment. The R – is the multiple correlation coefficients which was at 58% considered as one of the measure of the quality of prediction of the dependent variable (pharmaceutical product delivery) in the study. It was concluded that there was a significant relationship between the qualification of the procurement trainers and the pharmaceutical products delivery in Subukia Sub County Public Health Facilities. The researcher recommended for a specific selection of procurement training content depending on the need of participants.