The quest for accountability of Health Facility Governing Committees implementing Direct Health Facility Financing in Tanzania: A supply-side experience

Abstract

User committees, such as Health Facility Governing Committees, are popular platforms for representing communities and civil society in holding service providers accountable. Fiscal decentralization via various arrangements such as Direct Health Facility Financing is thought to strengthen Health Facility Governing Committees in improving accountability in carrying out the devolved tasks and mandates. The purpose of this study was to analyze the status of accountability of Health Facility Governing Committees in Tanzania under the Direct Health Facility Financing setting as perceived by the supply side. In 32 different health institutions, a cross-sectional design was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data at one point in time. Data was collected through a closed-ended questionnaire, an in-depth interview, and a Focus Group Discussion. Descriptive statistics, multiple logistic regression, and theme analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, Health Facility Governing Committees’ accountability is 78%. Committees have a high level of accountability in terms of encouraging the community to join community health funds (91.71%), receiving medicines and medical commodities (88.57%), and providing timely health services (84.29%). The health facility governance committee’s responsibility was shown to be substantially connected with the health planning component (p = 0.0048) and the financial management aspect (p = 0.0045). This study found that the fiscal decentralization setting permits Committees to be accountable for carrying out their obligations, resulting in improved health service delivery in developing nations.