Partnership and collaboration in healthcare delivery in Ghana

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Francis Bannasco Ampong‐Ansah,Theophilus Maloreh‐Nyamekye,Lucinda Naomi Otchere,Ama Kissiwah Boateng,Joseph Antwi‐Boasiako
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2175

ACADEMIC PAPER

Partnership and collaboration in healthcare delivery in Ghana

Francis Bannasco Ampong-Ansah

1

| Theophilus Maloreh-Nyamekye

1

|

Lucinda Naomi Otchere

1

| Ama Kissiwah Boateng

2

| Joseph Antwi-Boasiako

1

1

Department of Public Administration and

Health Services Management, University of

Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana

2

Faculty of Public Governance and

International Studies, National University of

Public Service, Budapest, Hungary

Correspondence

Joseph Antwi-Boasiako, Department of Public

Administration and Health Services

Management, University of Ghana Business

School, P. O. Box LG 78, Legon -Accra, Ghana.

Email: joelisk1@hotmail.com;

faansah2013@gmail.com

The quest of most state or governments to adequately cater for the healthcare needs

of its people continue to be a difficult task since many states have experienced, and

continue to experience, a reduction in allocation of resources to the health sector.

The involvement of the private sector in health care delivery is an option being

explored by a number of states to augment resources in the health sector with some

partnerships between the public and the private healthcare facilities in the fight

against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. However, not many empirical studies have

been conducted to identify and better understand these partnerships between the

state agencies and the private sector in Ghana. This study, therefore, sought to

answer questions on the range of partnership and collaborative activities existing

between public and private healthcare institutions in Ghana, the need for these

collaborations and the factors that hinder these collaborations in Ghana. The study

adopted the stakeholder theory as various stakeholders come together to ensure the

delivery of healthcare in Ghana. The study revealed that there was no direct partner-

ship between these two groups. They, however, collaborated in some instances

under the umbrella of their governing organization. The perceived need for collabora-

tion that was identified under the study was for the protection of human lives. The

study concluded that this collaboration is necessary to ensure an efficient healthcare

delivery.

1|INTRODUCTION

The quest of most states to adequately cater for the healthcare needs

of its people continues to be a difficult task. According to Bhat (2000),

with the growing world population, most governments find it difficult

in recent times to expand their facilities to cater for health care provi-

sion. According to Uplekar (2003), most countries have two major

sets of healthcare providers namely; the public owned by the state

and the private owned by individuals and groups. Chinouya and

Adeyanju (2017) have also argued that, with the growing financial

pressures on service providers, public and private community leaders

are looking more often to these types of partnerships to respond to a

broad range of community health needs and to rationalize the alloca-

tion of local health and human service resource.

Slipicevic and Malicbegovic (2012) have also stated that, to

reduce the increasing burdens on public health care system, state

government must abandon its passive role and take action to direct

growth and use the potential of private sector. The fulcrum of this

engagement is to stimulate the maximum cooperation of private

sector, international agencies and non-governmental organizations in

collaborating with government in addressing health inequalities and

challenges (Aduo-Adjei, 2017). Various governments are recently

exploring the options of involving the private healthcare facilities in

meeting growing health care needs. Uplekar (2003) argues that, over

the years in most developing countries, the private health sector has

outgrown the public health providers. In relation to tuberculosis, evi-

dence has shown that countries such as Uganda, Kenya, India, Mexico

and Philippines have engaged private practitioners to treat it (Uplekar,

Raviglione, & Pathnia, 2001).

In some African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo

partnership between the public and the private healthcare facilities

has been seen in the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Received: 28 May 2019 Accepted: 4 May 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2175

J Public Affairs. 2021;21:e2175. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of7

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2175