Assessing the Effectiveness of Tertiary Healthcare Facilities Maintenance in Nigeria: A Case Study of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

Abstract

This research paper evaluated the level of effectiveness of facilities maintenance in the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) in Bauchi town; the paper tend assess the challenges with regard to the effectiveness of facilities maintenance within the various department/wards within the Hospital. The state of facilities maintenance in ATBUTH is presented in the result of this research. The paper critically analyses the inherent challenges of facilities maintenance in ATBUTH in Bauchi town Nigeria. The main challenges of managing the healthcare facilities in ATBUTH are the intricacy of the health facilities and inadequate professional man power among others. ATBUTH renders specialist services with sophisticated healthcare structures, equipment and machinery that can only be maintained by experts. The study adopted descriptive survey techniques, using the quantitative research approach (Amarantunga, Badru et al, 2002). Data was collected through the administration of questionnaires. Eighty (80) questionnaires were distributed to the facilities maintenance managers in ATBUTH. Fifty one (51) questionnaires were completed. The distributions of the respondent were 51 in-house maintenance officers and technicians. Five major indicators of effectiveness of facilities maintenace were assessed such as: Service performance, Capacity building, policies, and supervision. The data was then analyzed by weighing poor, fair, or good and the overall scores were taken to determine the degree of effectiveness of FM in ATBUTH.