Provider perspectives on the quality of family planning services have been overlooked in the quality of care research and interventions. This qualitative study was carried out in four districts in Uganda, a country where lack of access to quality family planning services remains a challenge. The research was done using four focus group discussions, 16 in-depth provider interviews, and nine in-depth manager interviews. This study documented providers’ perceptions of quality of care and barriers to quality services at the organizational and societal levels.
Providers felt that organizational factors, such as supply availability, workload, and their knowledge and skills, affected their abilities to offer quality care. While making changes to the quality care elements that clients experience is essential, it is not sufficient given the organizational and social barriers.
The study concluded that providers face barriers to providing quality family planning services that are synergistic across the different levels of the ecological framework. Solutions to improve quality of care must also address limitations at the organisational and societal levels since efforts to overcome a particular constraint are less likely to succeed if this interdependence is not taken into account.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/34/1/37
