Evaluation of procurement and inventory control practice among public and private health facilities in Bayelsa State

Abstract

Availability of medicines is a panacea for the operation of health care services. To achieve this,
good procurement and inventory management are to ensure the ready availability of commodities
to avoid overstocking or understocking. The objective of the study was to evaluate the method of
procurement and inventory control practices among public and private health facilities in Bayelsa
State, Nigeria. A prospective descriptive correlational study design was employed which involved
healthcare professionals in 16 Health Facilities with good procurement and inventory
management practices. The census sampling method was used and sample size calculation was
done online using the number of healthcare facilities within the population. An instrument for
data collection was used and a well-structured validated questionnaire was self-administered. A
total of 47 questionnaires were distributed to respondents and 42 were filled and returned
successfully. The result showed that 20 respondents (47.6%) received training on supply chain
management. On product selection 28 (66.7%) select products based on the essential medicine
list. Good inventory control practices were observed especially in conducting physical stock
count as reported among 41 respondents (97.6%). The method of storing and issuing commodities
was mostly FEFO (83.3%). The average lead time for commodity receipt was two weeks
(31.0%). Medicine stockout was a huge problem as observed with (64.1%). One quarter (24) of
the respondents indicated having a functional procurement committee (57.1%). The availability of
a drug revolving fund committee was identified in 16 respondents (38.1%) of the respondents.
Pearson correlation showed a strong statistically significant association/or correlation (p<0.003)
between basic Procurement Practices and basic elements of logistics. Regarding, the management
of Information Systems a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was revealed between basic
procurement practices and basic elements of logistics management information systems. Efficient
inventory management and procurement system are very key to healthcare delivery. Proper
inventory management practices are necessary for ensuring uninterrupted medicine availability in
health facilities, which helps to prevent frequent stockouts and expiry of medicines