POOR WORK ENVIRONMENT: A BARRIER TO EFFICIENCY IN HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SERVICES (A STUDY CONDUCTED AT FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRE, OWO, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA)

Efficiency in services is subject to adequate work environment which can be described as the surrounding conditions in which an employee operates. This study explored the knowledge, assessed the perception of health care givers about their work environment and assessed the barriers to efficiency of health care service delivery in Federal Medical Centre, Owo. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 284 health workers comprising of 171 nurses, 107 doctors and 6 community health and extension workers which was selected using multi stage sampling technique. Data was analyzed using STATA (SE 12.0) whereby frequency tables were run, mean and standard deviation was calculated. Results showed that majority (97.5%) of the workers had good knowledge of what constitutes a desirable work environment. All (100%) the workers had positive perception of a good work environment. And factors identified to be responsible for affecting conducive work environment which in turn affects workers? productivity include lack of equity and fairness, poor communication system, occupational hazards and high workload leading to burn out, lack of motivation from boss, non availability of drugs to treat patients, lack of appropriate equipments, lack of autonomy, lack of in-service training, insufficient basic amenities for day-to-day job performances and lack of team spirit. The study concluded that productivity in workers and efficiency in health care delivery services can be hampered by factors we some time overlook in work places.