Browsing by Author "Jha, Geetanjali"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ‘Who cares for us?’ : a analysing the systemic challenges faced by the grassroots health care workers in urban Bihar
    (National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-10-17) Jha, Geetanjali; Ms. Akhila Vasan, - Supervisor
    Primary Health Centre (PHC)– being the foundational unit in the Indian public health system – is expected to provide good quality and comprehensive health care with disease prevention and health promotion constituting a large part of its responsibility. Similarly, the grassroots level health workers of the primary care centre are the cornerstone of the public health system by providing preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative health care services to all citizens. They act as the bridge between the communities and the government health system. However, the public health system in Bihar is in a poor state including availability and capacity of human resources. Health outcomes have a strong correlation with the job satisfaction and work quality of the health care workforce in public health system. Hence, it is imperative to assess what strengthens the retention and improves productivity of a health care worker in the public health system. This thesis explores the systemic challenges and barriers faced by the grassroots health care workers in the primary health centers in urban Bihar. The study involved primary data gathering to conduct a landscape and comparative analysis of the working conditions of health care staff and their interactions with patients and other stakeholders at PHCs and HWCs. 88 interviews were conducted with all cadre of staff working in four PHCs including 32 patients seeking care in the PHCs located in two districts – Madhubani and Sitamarhi. The study identified various systemic challenges such as shortage of healthcare workers, lack of training and appraisals, poor working conditions, infrastructural inadequacies, and socio-economic insecurities. The study also revealed other crucial cross-cutting issues such as governance failures and inter-communication barriers among health cadres. The study recommends creating a rights-based human resource division and minimising the shortage of healthcare professionals with reasonable monetary and non-monetary incentives among others.