According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that all people obtain the necessary health services without being financial limped because of the payable fees. This requires: - A strong, efficient, well-run health system; - A system for financing health services; - Access to essential medicines and technologies; and - A sufficient capacity of well-trained, motivated health workers. In an effort to compliment the abovementioned, the South African government proposed the National Health Insurance System (NHIS) to address the health inequality and to improve access to quality healthcare for its citizens. The National Department of Health (NDOH) has already consulted with several stakeholders since the launch of the NHI Green Paper in August 2011. Already 11 National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot sites have been established in the nine South African provinces to assess the feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness and affordability to engage the private healthcare sector. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the NHI in South Africa as well as the way in which it could be implemented to be more acceptable to all stakeholders involved. A qualitative research approach was followed due to the nature of the study. Furthermore, an exploratory methodology was applied in order to generate hypotheses. The research design for this study included a literature review, participatory data collection, semi-structured interviews and data analysis. The study found that there is a need for NHI in South Africa. However, medical practitioners (also referred to as general practitioners or GPs further in the study) feel uncertain about the implementation progress which is unclear to them. Also evident is the, fear for loss of income should the NHI be implemented and thus the remuneration package remained a main concern for all. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that all people obtain the necessary health services without being financial limped because of the payable fees. This requires: - A strong, efficient, well-run health system; - A system for financing health services; - Access to essential medicines and technologies; and - A sufficient capacity of well-trained, motivated health workers. In an effort to compliment the abovementioned, the South African government proposed the National Health Insurance System (NHIS) to address the health inequality and to improve access to quality healthcare for its citizens. The National Department of Health (NDOH) has already consulted with several stakeholders since the launch of the NHI Green Paper in August 2011. Already 11 National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot sites have been established in the nine South African provinces to assess the feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness and affordability to engage the private healthcare sector. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the NHI in South Africa as well as the way in which it could be implemented to be more acceptable to all stakeholders involved. A qualitative research approach was followed due to the nature of the study. Furthermore, an exploratory methodology was applied in order to generate hypotheses. The research design for this study included a literature review, participatory data collection, semi-structured interviews and data analysis. The study found that there is a need for NHI in South Africa. However, medical practitioners (also referred to as general practitioners or GPs further in the study) feel uncertain about the implementation progress which is unclear to them. Also evident is the, fear for loss of income should the NHI be implemented and thus the remuneration package remained a main concern for all. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Introduction: A spinal cord injury is the damage to the spinal cord that alters functional independence. Two different systems of care for the management of health conditions are available in private and public care in South Africa. A better understanding of health and functioning of individuals in the two systems is crucial to help address inequality between the two systems. The aim of the study was to describe the health status and functioning of persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in the Western Cape province who received public-funded care compared with those in the Gauteng province who received private care. Methodology: The study entailed a cross-section comparison between a government-funded cohort in the Western Cape and a private cohort in Gauteng, two of the provinces of South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires and standardised outcome measures were used to collect the data and to ensure validity and reliability. Data were captured on Excel and then transferred to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for analysis. Ethical clearance to conduct the study was obtained from the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of the University of the Western Cape.

With many global problems affecting the human population in recent years, which would include aging and increase in chronic diseases, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed by patients. To overcome this issue and ensure appropriate treatment is provided, many proposals and projects have been developed. Quality management is an aspect of care that is needed to minimize the time people stay at hospitals and improve the efficient delivery of healthcare services, while also, the presence of accreditation provides an international mean to assure proper quality of care and performance improvement is delivered. While performance improvement is mainstream in many fields, it is under developed yet highly pertinent to the healthcare sector in order to improve patient care and here is where the importance of this research is illuminated. The current research investigates the impact of accreditation on performance measurement in hospitals as an effective external assessment scheme. While also, investigating the effect of following international standards developed by accreditation organizations and maintaining high quality of care and performance improvement. Moreover, the current research was conducted at hospitals in different cities of Saudi Arabia, which could be generalised to the whole country and similar healthcare systems including: Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Based on the pragmatism philosophy, this research is of an exploratory nature, which adapts a mixed method design to collect data from different hospitals in different cities. The main finding of the current research is the provision of a framework which demonstrates the alignment and its connection to the external and internal environment. Moreover, the data were collected through case studies and questionnaires which provided the validation of the current research framework, two new internal environment factors namely: involvement and standardisation and an outcome to the alignment namely improvement. Hence, this research argues that following national and international standards of care are enablers for hospitals to achieve performance improvement and high quality care. Furthermore, the findings of this research suggest that accreditation is directly linked to performance improvement and is essential for the quality of care in hospitals.

Background: Healthcare workers are most at risk and most vulnerable toworkplace violence (WPV) when compared to other professions. Despite highrates of exposure to violence, it is highly underreported.Aim: To identify the prevalence rate of WPV and the existing demographicrelationship to WPV in the healthcare sector. To check for risk factors and healthimplications of this type of WPV on victims. Also, this research work intends tohighlight the proposed strategies and interventions that can be used to mitigateagainst this type of WPV.Methods: To achieve this aim, a literature review methodology was employed.The Malmö university library and google scholar search engines were utilizedwith several inclusion criteria to arrive at a total of 24 articles for this review.Results: Prevalence rate for WPV is high with the prevalence for non-physicalviolence being higher than physical violence. Age and years of experienceshowed a significant relationship with being a victim of WPV while gender didnot provide a conclusive result. There were few cases of physical injuries but ahigh percentage of victims of nonphysical violence suffered from psychologicaltrauma such as fear, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD, andanxiety. Prevention strategies and interventions have been recommended byvictims and researchers of WPV.Conclusion: WPV is an existing phenomenon with adverse effects which reducethe quality of lives and services of workers. There is need for effective preventivemethods to reduce WPV such as the implementation of zero-tolerance policy toWPV, the presence of police officers in at-risk health care facilities andinvolvement of victims in the development of prevention strategies.

Yes / The effective disposal of medication and more specifically accidental exposure to fentanyl via transdermal patches has recently been highlighted in two key documents [1, 2]. Whilst the volume of unused medicines cost the NHS over £300 million every year [1], the volume of transdermal patch waste is unknown. There is a need for greater pharmacy intervention in the effective disposal of medicines to resolve issues such as hospital (re)-admissions, stockpiling leading to patient self–prescribing/dosing, and land and water pollution. The aim of this study was to examine transdermal patch disposal systems and practice amongst private sector care providers in the UK. This was part of a larger study focusing on transdermal patch application. / The full text will be available on permission from the publisher.

Användandet av innovationsmodeller inom vårdsektorn studerades, med anledning av den innovationsmodell Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting nyligen tagit fram. Offentlig sektor har i litteraturgenomgångar inte tagits upp som positiva exempel på innovativ verksamhet, men det finns mycket litteratur som visar på hur systematiserade och byråkratiska de organisationerna är. Därför är det av intresse att undersöka hur en systematiserad organisation angriper innovationsarbete med hjälp av verktyg och modeller. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samlades data in från fem representanter inom den offentliga vårdsektorn (från två olika kommuner och landsting), och resultaten visade på att valet och användningssättet av innovationsmodeller skiljde sig mellan respondenterna. Vissa respondenter använde redan existerande modeller, medan andra skapade egna. Vidare visade resultatet att den modell Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting tagit fram ej användes av någon respondent, och endast två kände till att modellen fanns. Studien avslutas med en diskussion gällande innovationsmodellers nivå av generalisering respektive specialisering, samt förslag på en möjlig revidering av modellen Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting tagit fram, för att på så vis sprida vetskapen om den. / The use of models for innovation within the public healthcare sector were studied, due to the fact that the public agency The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, SALAR, recently developed and launched a model for innovation. The public sector has not been the focal point in any of the literature about innovative organizations, but there is no shortage of literature regarding that of bureaucracy and the systematization of work processes in the public sector. That is why the authors find it interesting to study how a systemized organization set about working innovatively using instruments and models. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with five representatives from the public healthcare sector, data was collected and the results showed that the choice and use of innovative models differed between the respondents. Some respondents used models that already exist, while others constructed their own. The results also showed that neither one of the respondents used the model created by SALAR, and only two of them had pre-existing knowledge of the model. The study is concluded with a discussion about the degree of generalization/specialization in innovative models, and a suggestion for a possible revision of SALAR’s model in order to create wider knowledge of it.

No description available.

Background: Corporate governance is crucial for organizational success, with the board of directors as the leading factor. Gender diversity in the boardroom and its impact on companies’ financial performance is a hot topic as legal gender quotas are present in some countries. In Sweden, other regulations are in place though. Research shows that diverse boards enhance decision-making and performance, with gender-balanced boards often leading to increased profitability and turnover. However, some studies suggest negative financial impacts due to a phenomenon known as tokenism.  Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of gender diversity on the stock performance of Swedish industrial and healthcare firms during the crisis periods 2008-2009 and 2020-2021 and to compare the sectors’ outcomes. By studying this relationship, the thesis aims to contribute to existing literature about corporate governance.  Method: This study uses a sample of Swedish industrial and healthcare companies for a panel regression analysis. Data has been collected from Yahoo Finance and the companies’ annual reports. A positivist deductive approach using a quantitative strategy is utilized to test whether the theories are supported by the results. Control variables include firm size, board size, and average age, while the dependent variable is cumulative return, and the independent variable is the percentage of women on the board of directors. Conclusion: The findings suggest that gender diversity influences cumulative returns, particularly benefiting the industrial sector during 2020-2021 and the healthcare sector during 2008-2009. These results illustrate the importance of gender diversity within the board of directors during financial crises, especially in male-dominated sectors in the modern era.

Many patients suffer from dermatological diseases throughout the world. Literature about this problem is emphasizing that it is getting worse. Factors such as poor hygiene, poverty and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, have increased the prevalence of dermatological diseases in developing countries such as Namibia. Understanding the different dermatological diseases and studying their prevalence will aid in ensuring patients better quality of life. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and medicinal treatment patterns of dermatological diseases in the private healthcare sector of Namibia, with special reference to Windhoek. The research methodology was divided into two sections, namely a literature analysis and an empirical study. The literature analysis has been done to ensure knowledge about dermatological conditions before the empirical study was started. The empirical study was divided into two phases and data were collected from the community pharmacy environment (Phase 1) and a dermatologist (Phase 2). A total number of 507 patients participated in this study. In the community pharmacy environment, data were gathered from dermatological prescriptions of general practitioners (Phase 1A) and from pharmacist-initiated therapy prescriptions (Phase 1B). The data collected from the dermatologist (Phase 2), were collected from patients files at the dermatologist‘s practise. Phase 1A indicated that urticaria (n=36) had the highest prevalence followed by eczema (n=28) and contact dermatitis (n=28). 49% of the patients that participated in this phase were seeking treatment for the same condition the second time. In Phase 1B, contact dermatitis (n=15) showed the highest prevalence with eczema (n=14) and urticaria (n=8) second and third respectively. 77% of the patients participating in this phase of the research study did not have a family history of the same dermatological diseases. Phase 2 indicated that the highest prevalence of dermatological diseases was acne vulgaris (n=30) and melasma (n=19). The treatment duration that occurred most often in this phase was 180 days. Over all, the data indicated that eczema was the dermatological disease with the highest incidence of 11.2% (n=57). Other diseases that played a significant part were acne vulgaris (10.5%), urticaria (9.0%), contact dermatitis (8.6%) and melasma (7.1%). Rare dermatological diseases such as Kaposi sarcoma showed relatively high prevalence (n=9). It was concluded that this could be due to the fact that the dermatologist consulted, had been the only dermatologist claiming directly from the government medical aid, and that most of the patients diagnosed with Kaposi sarcoma during this research study were government employees. Many dermatological diseases were not specifically defined or diagnosed, but still treated with topical corticosteroids which may suggest that the term eczema is undefined and easily used by different healthcare practitioners for dry-skin related conditions. It is concluded in this research study that the three most prevalent dermatological diseases in the private healthcare sector of Namibia are eczema, acne vulgaris and urticaria. These conditions are not considered to be life-threatening, but they do have a significant effect on the quality of life of patients. / MPham (Pharmacy Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014