Assessment of Service Compact (SERVICOM) on Public Service Delivery in Deleted Federal Hospitals in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The following are the objectives of the study:
(a) To examine how the activities of SERVICOM affects both employee, customers, organization and society in general.
(b) To identify the key service delivery issues in the selected teaching hospitals
(c) To evaluate the general challenges facing SERVICOM in terms of improving service delivery in the selected institutions
(d) To assess the place of SERVICOM in key service delivery areas in the selected teaching hospitals in South-Eastern Nigeria
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CONCEPT OF SERVICOM
SERVICE: ‘service is what we offer our self for and service is what the people are entitled to expect from us’’ (Obasanjo, 2004). COMPACT: predominantly formed or filled, having dense structure or parts or unit closed packed or joined. (Merriam-Webster’s 11th collegiate Dictionary meaning) The concept ‘quality’ intuitively conjures pictures of a thing that is “exceptionally good among its kind” (Answers.com, 2006). In management, quality refers to the features of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (Van Fleet, 1991); or reliability of performance, ease of use, value for money, speedy delivery, and so on (Johns, 1996). While some people believe that quality does not fit in with how government works, others insist that until quality is ingrained into government services, government will continue to lose the respect and trust of its citizens (Quality Digest, 2001). Regarding public services in Nigeria such as health care and electricity, quality would mean availability, efficiency, reliability, not giving preferential treatment to any private organization/individual; and absence of hidden costs, that is, corruption. Over time, inefficiency and corruption became rife in the Nigerian civil service. The onset of these ills has been traced to various events. Some writers trace it to civil service reforms implemented in 1987. One major element of the reforms is the change in designation of the office of Permanent Secretary to Director General, which is believed to have elevated political expediency above rationalism and made the service vulnerable, as senior positions became political and lost their erstwhile career status (Hamalai,1999; Enogholas, 2006; Vanguard Newspaper, 2006 (c). The political head of a department/ministry thereafter functioned as the Chief Accounting Officer without recourse to the Director General (Fanimo, 2006). Another perceived precipitating event was the integration of the federal character clause into the 1979 Constitution, by which considerations of ethnic balancing/representation were given equal (if not greater) importance as merit and qualification in the distribution of public offices and privileges (Hamalai, 1999; Enogholas, 2006). The advent of military rule in the country in 1966, and its dominance of governance thereafter for the next thirty-three years, albeit with a brief period of democratic governance from 1979 to 1983, has also been blamed for the ills in the civil service (Adamolekun, 2006). The popular opinion is that most of the leaders who governed the country during those years lacked the levels of experience and education that were crucial for effective State leadership. The overall effects of these types of ill-advised government systems were the institutionalization of mediocrity, subjectivity, corruption and inefficiency (Fanimo, 2006).
THE REVIEW OF SERVICOM CHARTERS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES TEACHING HOSPITALS
There are a total of fourteen (14) Federal University Teaching Hospitals all over the country, mostly situated in the State capitals, since most of the universities are so situated. This arrangement also took into cognizance, the availability of necessary infrastructure and other high level resources. There are a number of situations where the hospitals are located outside the State capital. These arose as a result of the original locations of the parent Universities, or the need to equitably distribute health facilities in the State. The rural and semi-urban areas are covered by the primary and secondary health institutions run by the Local and State Governments respectively, such that relative demands for specialist health care by the citizenry are met.
Customer Relations and Grievance Redress Mechanisms
In all the hospitals, mechanisms are in place relating to customers, including receipt of complaints and grievances on the one hand, and mechanisms for redressing these grievances on the other hand. These are as follows: Every patient/visitor shall have the right to be heard regarding his/her grievances/complaints. Grievances/complaints are to be channelled through the Desk Officer, Customer Relations of the SERVICOM Service Delivery Unit (SDU) of the hospital, who shall serve as the first arbitrator. In some of the hospitals, this position is occupied by a designated hospital secretary/matron, whose name, location and telephone numbers are distinctly and conspicuously displayed at the reception and other strategic locations. The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (C-MAC), is designated to receive and attend to all grievances/complaints as the final arbitrator, which will be acknowledged immediately and then finally concluded and disposed of within 7 working days.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Assessment of service compact ( servicom) on public service delivery in deleted federal hospitals in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on Assessment of service compact ( servicom) on public service delivery in deleted federal hospitals in Nigeria. 200 staff from University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu state and Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain assessment of service compact (servicom) on public service delivery in deleted federal hospitals in Nigeria.
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of service compact (servicom) on public service delivery in deleted federal hospitals in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on assessment of service compact (servicom) on public service delivery in deleted federal hospitals in Nigeria. Four objectives were raised which included; To examine how the activities of SERVICOM affects both employee, customers, organization and society in general, to identify the key service delivery issues in the selected teaching hospitals, to evaluate the general challenges facing SERVICOM in terms of improving service delivery in the selected institutions and to assess the place of SERVICOM in key service delivery areas in the selected teaching hospitals in South-Eastern Nigeria. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff from University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu state and Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State were selected randomly. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up doctor, nurses, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The changes envisioned by the SERVICOM policy will likely take some time in getting accomplished simply because the reforms touch upon the core of public sector malfunctioning in Nigeria – poor work performance. A lot of political will is required to tackle this pervasive and longstanding problem. Moreover, the problem is accompanied by much buck passing between the government and workers. But studies by Nigerian academic and international economists strongly assert that the problem lies with the government, which must put in place merit-based and transparent governance systems, including adequate reward systems, to motivate civil and public servants to put in utmost efforts into their jobs. Attitudinal change from the civil servants and value orientation in public service will also be of greater help in service delivery in Nigeria public sector organizations. The right steps however have been taken in the conceptualization of the intervention. With continued support from international donor agencies, the country will likely sustain the SERVICOM initiative.
Recommendation
There should be a legal backing to SERVICOM operations in Nigerian public sector and sanctions be provided for those that violated service provision for effective service delivery
Government should also put in place merit-based and transparent governance system which include adequate reward system to motivate civil servant to put in more effort in their jobs
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