Supply chain management in a public hospital in Gauteng

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, School of Governance in 50% fulfilment for the Master of Management in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation 9 May 2016The purpose of the study was to analyse the Supply Chain Management (SCM) approaches used in the Public Hospital Outpatients Pharmacy and compare the findings with successful supply chain practices from other industry sectors. The study of academic literature locates the unavailability of drugs in the public hospital pharmacies to the domino effect of the lack of governance and accountability in the public hospital. The data for the study was gathered from public and private hospitals in Gauteng, and large FMCG manufacturers and retailers. The study finds that the public sector adoption of SCM in the absence of a coherent technology and human resource support environment results in a lack of accountability and coherence across systems. The research study corroborated the view of academics and the interviewees that the unavailability of drugs in the public hospital is a multidimensional problem that has its roots in the lack of governance throughout the drug supply chain. It is a complex manifestation of policy, processes, practices, structure, people, communication and donor funding that contribute to the problem. Resolving the drug availability issues will require the ‘whole supply chain re-engineering’ with the added focus on developing the operational capability and capacity of the actors within the supply chain continuum.MT201