Social audit: current need in public health care sector

Abstract

Faced with the vociferous demands, the executive and the legislature in the health care industry are looking for new ways to evaluate their performance and Social Audit can act as an important tool for this. Social audit is, “the process by which people, the final beneficiaries of any scheme, program, policies, and laws are empowered to review any scheme, policy, program, or law”. Social Audit is done jointly by the government and the beneficiaries of the program or the service and hence has a greater acceptability by both the parties. The transparency in the process of social audit benefits the provider, by enhancing their reputation and bringing a positive organizational change, while it also benefits the beneficiaries as it ensures participation and provides a forum where people can ask for what is rightfully theirs. How Social Audit can benefit the health sector is currently an un-explored field. It seems to be a potential method in for effective program implementation, awareness generation, program monitoring and evaluation, reducing the chances of corruption and increasing grievance redressal, and follow-up on corrective actions. The incorporation of social audit in health programmes and implementation can go a long way in achieving Universal Health Coverage.