ASSESSING THE COVID-19 SAFETY COMPLIANCE LEVEL IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Th world  in it history witness an infectious disease  that shook almost on the whole countries. Astonishingly, in the first three months after COVID-19 emerged Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, a devastating number of new cases were reported across China and several countries around the world.  And it was finally declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 2020 (WHO 2020). Evidence indicates that COVID-19 transmitted through respiratory droplets via contact routes such as the mouth, nose, and conjunctiva or eyes (UNICEF 2020). According to the Worldometer (2020) report, the outbreak has been confirmed in over 21,628,638 individuals worldwide and resulted in more than 769,128 deaths as of August 16, 2020, of which 99% cases were found in mild condition. More than 213 countries reported laboratory-confirmed corona virus cases. In Africa, 1,113,246 confirmed cases and 25,385 deaths were reported (Worldometre 2020). Even though the outbreak is a global pandemic, it is important to note that the problem needs more attention in Africa because the African countries have limited healthcare system capacity to control the pandemic (Worldometre 2020). Measures to prevent transmission in healthcare settings are an immediate priority to slowdown the demand for specialized healthcare such as intensive care unit beds, safe guarding risk groups, protecting healthcare workers, and minimizing the export of the cases to other healthcare facilities and the wider community.

The healthcare sector consists of businesses that provide medical services, manufacture medical equipment or drugs, provide medical insurance, or otherwise facilitate that provides healthcare to patients. Prevalent at risk of the Covid-19 disease are the health workers who are majorly  personnel  whose job is to protect and improve the health of their community. Healthcare personnel continue to be on the front line of the nation’s fight against the pandemic.by providing critical care to those who might be affected with the virus that causes covid-19. Healthcare personnel have a high risk of being exposed and infected with the novel disease. According to Centre for disease Control 2020, there were more than 249,000 confirmed cases and 866 death among health personnel. Thus this makes it a critical need to ensure they comply to the safety measures as drafted by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC 2020). Apart from the healthcare personnel, it is pertinent for hospital owners, and those in health businesses (pharmacies, clinics patent stores etc)  who contribute health sector workforce to ensure that they put in place the necessary safety equipment and facilities  to enable them meet up the safety measure as recommended by NCDC. Not only ensuring the provision for PPE are met, it is their sole responsibility to see that both patience and health workers do not take those measures for granted. However  According to the World Health Organization, information has it that health sector have not really done much in ensuring they curb  the wild spread of this novel disease. Preliminary data finds that they make up more than 5 percent of cases in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa alone, and in four of them, health sectors  make up more than 10 percent of all infections.The UN agency 2020 attributes the infections to inadequate access to personal protective equipment or weak infection prevention and control measures. This is in addition to healthcare workers being exposed to patients who do not show signs of coronavirus and are in hospital for a range of other services.Risks also arise when health personnel are repurposed for coronavirus response without adequate briefing, or because of heavy workloads which result in fatigue, burnout and possibly not fully applying the standard operating procedures.Also hospital management, patent store owners, pharmacies  inability to establish a prior screening equipment at the entrance of their premises, ensuring that patients who needs their services comply to the Washing, Sanitation and Hygiene -WASH measures recommended for the prevention of Covid-19(Covid-19 task force 2020)

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Healthcare sector are at a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their direct contact with patients. The triage of the patient with acute respiratory symptoms should be determined, the contact distance should be arranged to be at least 2 meters, and patients should wear face masks. During the care of these patients, health care sector should ensure staffs and patients who come into their hospitals, clinic, pharmacy stores  wear necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) and keep hand hygiene. However, poor WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene)  lead to hospital-acquired infections and transmission of disease from health facilities to the community that exacerbate the wild  spread of this infectious disease (Aglar 2021). According to Cochrane database 2020 trusted evidence showed that long and constantly changing local guidelines, low level of support by the management, lack of enough space for isolation, lack of quality and adequate PPE, and fear of the patients being stigmatized if mask is worn are important impeding factors to follow the  guidelines among healthcare sector. Thus against this backdrop that this study seek to assess the Covid-19  safety compliance level among healthcare sector.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the different covid-19 safety measures established by Ministry of Health?

2. What are the various covid-19 safety measures complied to in General Hospital Offa?

3. What is the extent of Covid-19 safety compliance among  staff and patient in General Hospital Offa?

1.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study in general is set to assess the covid-19 safety compliance level in health sector. Specifically it will:

1. Examine the different established covid-19 safety measures

2. To investigate  the various  covid-19 safety measures healthcare sectors comply on.

3. To determine the level of covid-19 safety compliance among health sectors.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study would reveal heighten the level of awareness of the health sector on the need to comply to the covid-19 safety measures as they are at a high risk exposure to the diseases. It will compel hospital owners, pharmacy store owners, patent stores owners to ensure they put up facilities and equipment that will enable the effective compliance to this safety measures. It will enable government to ensure that authorities involved like NCDC task force to do a regular check on health sector to ensure that high compliance level is maintained which will reduce the spread of this novel disease. This study will also add to existing literature in this topic and serve as a guide to scholars, researchers and students who may want to carry out similar research in the future.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study would  assess the COVID-19 safety compliance level among health sector using General Hospital, Offa, Kwara State.

1.7 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: The level of covid-19 safety compliance is low among health sector

H1: The level of covid-19 safety compliance is high among health sector

1.8       LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

During the course of the study challenges encountered were exclusively but not delimited to the following numerous. These are

• Inadequate finance: the research was face with problem of inadequate fund which hinder the researcher from shuttering to Access Banks within Lagos more so in printing and collation of questionnaires
• Time: time factor pose another constraint since having to cope in this research which went simultaneously within the time schedule of other academic work making it impossible to undertake this study in large more representative skill

1.9       DEFINITION OF TERMS:

COVID-19:Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as illness caused by a novel corona virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2.

HEALTH SECTOR: Health Sector is an aggregation and integration of hospitals, clinics, patent stores, pharmacy, and all health businesses that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It includes the generation and commercialization of goods and services lending themselves to maintaining and re-establishing health.

SAFETY: the condition of being free and protected from risk or anything that is harmful

COMPLIANCE: compliance means adhering to stipulated  rules, specifications, procedures, policies and laws.