Browsing by Author "van der Westhuizen, Nicolaas Wilhelmus"

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    Factors associated with intended retention of medical officers in the district health services of the Western Cape, South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) van der Westhuizen, Nicolaas Wilhelmus; Mash, Bob; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Family and Emergency Medicine. Family Medicine and Primary Care.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Background: Revitalizing primary healthcare has been put forward as a cornerstone of improvinghealthcare systems globally. Healthcare system performance depends heavily on the distribution and quality of healthcare staff employed. Retaining primary care doctors is a complex problem and factors associated with retention is understudied and poorly understood. This remains particularly understudied in the South African context. Aim: To evaluate and explore the factors that influence the intended retention of medical officers inpublic sector district health services in the Western Cape, South Africa. Setting: Primary care facilities and district hospitals in the Western Cape associated with the SUFPRENnetwork. Methods: A descriptive observational cross-sectional survey was done with all qualifying medicalofficers employed at facilities associated with the SUFPREN network. Factors associated with retention were broadly categorized into personal, professional, social and financial categories. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire constructed in REDCap. The questionnaire was content validated in a workshop attended by the family physicians associated with SUFPREN. Inferential statistics was used to make inferences from the data about variables associated with retention. Results: Seventy six percent of the 125 qualifying medical officers responded to the questionnaire.Median age was 33 years. Medical officers that intend to be retained for more than 4 years was 41%. Only two factors showed statistically significant (p<0.05) association with intended retention; whether the life partner stayed with the medical officer and the facility rating given by the medical officer to the facility where they were employed. Conclusion: Almost 60% of medical officers currently employed in district health services in theWestern Cape plan will likely not be retained within the next 4 years. The two key factors found associated with intended retention was a high rating of their facility by the medical officer and whether their partner was living with them. Important questions about the factors associated with retention were raised, as well as why certain factors, thought likely to be associated, were not found to be associated in this group. It is recommended that these factors be explored in a qualitative study.