Influence of Direct Government Health Funds on Service Delivery in Primary Healthcare Facilities in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT Health care financing is a worldwide issue that affects all governments, including those in developed countries. In third-world countries with faltering economies and competing demands for financial resources, the problem is exacerbated. This has had an impact on citizens' healthcare access. In Kenya, there has been a scarcity of research to inform policy formation and practices in healthcare funding. The focus of this thesis was on Meru County's Direct Government Health Funds. The study's major goal was to determine the impact of direct government health funds on service delivery in Meru County's basic primary health facilities, because of the significant diversity of distribution, the study area it was excellent for the investigation. The study aimed to draw concrete conclusions about the study's main objectives. Determine the quantity of funds received and their impact on primary health facilities service delivery. To determine the impact of existing funding modalities on primary health facilities service delivery. To determine the impact of health facility committee functionality on service delivery in primary health facilities. Statistical Packages for Social Scientists was used to analyze the data (SPSS Version 28) to assess the interrelationship between the study case variables, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. In this study, multiple regressions and bivariate logistic analyses were used to analyze the relationship between the study variables. The study discovered and concluded that the amount of funds, funding modalities, and the influence of the health management committee had a significant impact on service delivery in primary health care institutions. The R value represented how the independent variables in the study influenced 56 percent of service delivery at primary health facilities. The results showed that the government health funds had a positive impact in service delivery at primary health facilities. With a significance value of 0.001 and 0.002, respectively, at a 95% level of significance, the amount of funds and funding mechanisms had the greatest impact on service delivery. Furthermore, the significant value of the health management committee's influence was 0.004. The government funding had aided health facilities in Buuri in becoming more effective and delivering services to a larger population. The study recommends that, more government funds should be allocated to aid primary health facilities, facilities should have plans in place for how they would use the allocated funds, more community involvement in the management of the facilities, more training and seminars.