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The issue of gender diversity on hospital boards plays a significant role in the financial health and clinical performance of hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of gender diversity of hospital boards in Ghana. Specifically, this study examined the proportion of females on hospital boards and considered how hospital-level characteristics such as hospital size, age, location and ownership structure explain the board gender diversity of hospital boards in Ghana.

A quantitative approach based on 100 hospitals was used.

The results of the study indicate that women are represented on all hospitals with governing boards but with different proportions depending on ownership form. In all, women represent less than half of board membership. Smaller and older hospitals were found to have more female representation on their board. Also, not-for-profit mission and for-profit private hospitals tend to engage more females than their counterpart public hospitals.

The study examined female representation on hospital boards depending on only hospital-level characteristics such as hospital size, age, location and ownership. Other factors could be determining the appointment of females on hospital boards other than hospital characteristics.

Efforts on improving the role of women on hospital boards need to be encouraged.

Evidence from this study clearly suggests underrepresentation of women in the top echelons of hospitals owned by government or the state, bigger and newer hospitals.

This study examined the determinants of mobile health (M-Health) application, adoption, usage and discontinuation among corporate workers diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes in Ghana.

The diffusion innovation and reasoned action theories were employed using an exploratory design. Three hundred corporate workers diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension from three health facilities for the past six months were sampled for the study using a multi-stage sampling technique and administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression tools were employed in the analysis of data.

The study found a significant number of factors influencing m-health applications adoption, usage and discontinuity. These factors include nature and demand of job, perceived advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability, aesthetics and trust. Aesthetics emerged as the strongest predictive factor for the adoption, usage and discontinuity of use among diabetic and hypertensive corporate workers. With the adoption of M-Health applications, compatibility, as well as nature and demand of job, were significant predictors. With the usage of M-Health applications, complexity, triability, aesthetics and trust were significant predictors. Moreover, perceived advantage, compatibility, complexity and triability influenced significantly the choice to discontinue using M-Health applications. The study concluded that M-Health application functionalities play a valuable role in patients’ intention to adopt, use and discontinue the use of an M-Health application in Ghana.

This exploratory study offers in-depth insight into how major M-Health application features affect its adoption, usage and discontinuity, providing crucial information for future research and the improvement of chronic condition healthcare delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the clinical communication using Tamale Teaching Hospital as a case.

The paper is based on the Reassure, Explain, Listen, Answer, Take Action and Express Appreciation (RELATE) model and the Four Habits models of Clinical Communication.

The results of the study indicate that leadership conducted staff meetings with some of the components of the RELATE model. These include staff meetings, employee rounding and communication/notice boards. The results of the study also suggest that much as some parts of the Four Habits model was used in provider–patient communication, certain aspects of the model were absent. The study identified some communication challenges including poor dissemination, lack of unity among some health workers, poor attendance in meetings and, with respect to patients, language barrier, patients’ reluctance to disclose their actual health problems to health providers, lack of privacy and lack of a friendly environment.

Providers, especially physicians, should be given training on the local languages in areas where they perform their services. Health service providers should receive as part of their learning in-depth training on the Four Habits model of Clinical Communication, especially the Medical Officers.

It is imperative to embrace evidence-based practices/models aimed at securing proper communication in all hospitals but most especially teaching hospitals.

Clinical governance (CG) is crucial for healthcare quality of care improvement and safeguarding high standards of care. Little is known about CG in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors assessed health workers' perceptions of CG and hospital performance in Ghana's psychiatric hospitals.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 230 health workers across two psychiatric hospitals in Ghana. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23.0.

The majority (59.5%) of the respondents were females. The authors found that less than five in ten respondents felt that the hospitals have adopted measures to promote quality assurance (43.2%) and research and development (43.7%). However, a little above half of the respondents felt that the hospitals have adopted measures to promote education and training (57.7%); clinical audit (52.7%); risk management (50.7%) and clinical effectiveness (68.6%). The authors also found a statistically significant association between CG and hospital performance (p < 0.05).

There was a positive relationship between CG and hospital performance. Therefore, investing in CG may help to increase hospital performance.

This is the maiden study to investigate CG and hospital performance in Ghana's psychiatric hospitals and one of the few studies in Africa. This study makes a modest contribution to the global discourse on the subject matter.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of governance structures in Ghanaian hospitals by comparing the governance systems in public and private hospitals.

This study employs a comparative case methodology. It compares the governance structures in private hospitals to that of public hospitals in Ghana to ascertain whether they exhibit different or similar governance systems. The results obtained are analyzed and discussed to ascertain the extent to which the governance structures in these hospitals conform to Taylor's principles of good governance.

The results of the study revealed numerous differences in the governance structures in private and public hospitals in Ghana. From the review of Taylor's principles of good governance and the comparative case analysis, it was observed that some of the principles are not present in the current hospital governance systems.

The findings of this paper have important implications for proper governance and management of the Ghanaian health institutions.

The paper aims to examine the healthcare waste management practices of selected hospitals in Ghana.

The study adopted a multiple case approach, using two public and two private hospitals.

Findings indicate that both public hospitals and one private hospital have a waste management policy. Public and private hospitals have waste management plans and waste management teams. Public hospitals were found to generate more waste than the private hospitals. One private hospital and the public hospitals segregate their waste into different categories. This is done by first identifying the waste type and then separating non-infectious or general waste from infectious waste. Both public and private hospitals have internal storage facilities for temporarily storing the waste before they are finally disposed off-site. On-site transportation in the public hospitals is done by using wheelbarrows, while covered bins with wheels are used to transport waste on-site in the private hospitals. In public and private hospitals, off-site transportation of the hospital waste is undertaken by Municipal Assemblies with the use of trucks. Both public and private hospitals employ standard methods for disposing of healthcare waste.

The article provides insights into healthcare waste management from a Ghanaian perspective.

This paper aims to examine links between women's access to micro‐finance and how they use maternal healthcare services in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA).

The authors use theoretical and empirical literature to propose a framework to sustain and improve women's access to maternal healthcare services through micro‐financing.

It is found that improved access to micro‐finance by women, combined with education may enhance maternal health service uptake.

The paper does not consider empirical data in the analysis. The authors advocate empirically testing the framework proposed in other SSA countries.

It is important to empower women by facilitating their access to education and micro‐finance. This has implications for improving maternal healthcare utilization in SSA.

The paper moves beyond poor access to maternal health services in SSA and proposes a framework for providing sustainable solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the medical waste management practices of a hospital in Southern Africa.

A case study methodology was utilised.

The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical waste into infectious waste and non‐infectious waste is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Separation of medical waste and municipal waste is however practiced to a satisfactory extent. Wheeled trolleys are used for on‐site transportation of waste. Off‐site transportation of waste is outsourced to a private firm. Incineration is used in the final disposal of infectious waste. Non‐infectious waste is disposed using land disposal method. There is no policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. A number of problems were identified with respect to medical waste management.

The paper gives recommendations with the aim of improving medical waste management in hospitals.

The study aims to examine the socio‐economic determinants of maternal health services utilization in Ghana.

Probit and ordered probit models are employed in this study.

The results generally indicate that most women in Ghana undertake the required visits for antenatal services and also take both doses of the tetanus toxoid vaccine as required by World Health Organization. However, the results show low levels of usage in terms of the other maternal health care services (i.e. prenatal care, delivery at a health facility, and postnatal care). There is clearly an urgent need to develop innovative strategies that will help upscale intervention especially for improvement in the use of these services by women in Ghana. The regression results reveal that utilization of maternal health services and intensity of use of antenatal services are influenced by age of mother, type of birth, education of mother, ethnicity, economic status, geographic location, residence, and religious affiliation. Obviously, this suggests that more than medical factors are responsible for the differences in the use of maternal health services by women in Ghana as well as the decision on the number of visits to undertake with respect to antenatal visits.

The findings of this study have important implications for health policy formulation targeted at improving maternal health care service utilization.

The financing of healthcare services has been of a major concern to all governments in the face of increasing healthcare costs. For developing countries, where good health is considered a poverty reduction strategy, it is imperative that the hospitals used in the delivery of healthcare services are well financed to accomplish their tasks. The purpose of this paper is to examine how public hospitals in Ghana are financed, and the challenges facing the financing modes adopted.

To achieve the objectives of the study, one major public healthcare institution in Ghana became the main focus.

The findings of the study revealed that the main sources of financing the public healthcare institution are government subvention, internally‐generated funds and donor‐pooled funds. Of these sources, the internally generated fund was regarded as the most reliable, and the least reliable was the donor‐pooled funds. Several challenges associated with the various financing sources were identified. These include delay in receipt of government subvention, delay in the reimbursement of services provided to subscribers of health insurance schemes, influence of government in setting user fees, and the specifications to which donor funds are put.

The findings of this study have important implications for improving the financing of public healthcare institutions in Ghana. A number of recommendations are provided in this regard.