EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF PROCUREMENT OF WORKS IN GHANA HEALTH SERVICE: A STUDY OF SELECTED REGIONS

ABSTRACT 

The study examined the procurement of works within Ghana Health Service in selected regions in Ghana. Poor procurement practices have led to accumulated interest on late payments and the frequent price changes due to extensive renegotiations which further exacerbate the funding act problem and have increased government expenditure and reduced savings (World Bank, 2003).The target population of the study were professionals involved in procurement of works within the Ghana Health Service namely: estate managers, estate officers and procurement officers within the selected Regions (Ashanti ad Greater Accra Regions). A quantitative strategy was adopted involving the development and administration of questionnaires. The total number of these professionals in the study regions was 85 of which all were sampled for the study. The findings of the study revealed that; Ghana Health Service prepares detailed layout of procurement of works plan, uses internal notice board to display its procurement information, states reasonable dates and times for tender opening, clearly communicates date, time and venue for tender submission, notifies both successful and unsuccessful bidders of the outcome of tender evaluation, employs qualified persons to supervise projects, ensures that  progress reports  show percentage of work done. However, the main challenges encountered in procurement of works included; delays in payment of contractors, rapid developments in technology, inadequate staffing levels (e.g., ratio of procurement practitioners to contract actions) and budget resources, lack of proper knowledge, skills and capacity, complexity of works to be procured and political interference with procurement activities. Based on the aforementioned findings, the study recommended that there is the need to ensure prompt payment to contractors, embrace and adopt technology driven services so as to keep up with rapid developments in technology, ensure adequate staffing of procurement officers to enhance the procurement process and contract management and improve upon Ghana Health Service’s knowledge base, skills and capacity in procurement related issues. Based on this study, further research is suggested on the area of effective implementation of electronic procurement to address most of the challenges identified by this research work.