Leadership challenges facing the Ladysmith Provincial Hospital.

Abstract

Leadership is critical in any organisation. In the healthcare fraternity, the main reason for the existence of health care facilities is to serve human life, meaning that the management of these public institutions have a bearing on the services that get delivered to the public. However, there remains some gaps, with regards to how leadership in public healthcare facilities affect the quality of care given to the public. This study thus investigated the leadership challenges facing Ladysmith Provincial hospital. The main objectives of the study included to identify the current leadership challenges facing the Ladysmith Provincial Hospital, to assess the impact of the challenges on healthcare service at Ladysmith Provincial Hospital’s performance, as well as to critically analyse the factors that affect the execution of effective leadership practices at Ladysmith Provincial Hospital. The qualitative approach was adopted, whereby ten purposively selected participants were drawn from the various departments of the organisation, including the management. The main findings of the study indicated that the participants were particularly concerned about the high turnover rate in the institution, and essentially, the fact that the vacant positions do not get filled on time- thereby leaving a void in the operational processes of the organisation. The participants bemoaned financial challenges, human resources issues, as well as ineffective leadership in their organisation, noting that their leadership lacked the qualities of a good leader, while others did not possess the required qualifications for the positions that they occupied. Overall, the challenges identified have huge implications on service delivery. In view of these findings, some recommendations were made: the need to improve the leadership’s competencies through refresher courses, workshops and some form of training- to enable them to demonstrate the personal qualities of good leadership. It was indicated that the institution needed to put in place a more strategic and effective succession planning approaches across the board- in order to avoid the unnecessary challenges being faced in the absence of qualified personal to take up certain leadership positions. The poor infrastructures call for an urgent need to replace the broken equipment- through baseline support, so that the healthcare workers can execute their duties effectively.