Evaluating the opinions of staff and health care service provision of an STD/HIV clinic in Africa: indications for recovery

Zimbabwe has an incidence of STD/HIV infection and measures are needed to explore the efficiency of clinics in providing adequate patient care. To explore the views or opinions of the currently employed staff of an STD/HIV clinic, and suggest a means for improvement thereof. A current position analysis was determined through observation of an STD/HIV clinic. An assessment was made using an adapted, designed questionnaire as interviews of 125 staff. Responses to questions were given as Yes or No responses. Data were analysed according to gender, using a two-sample t-test and chi-square tests. Yates' correction was made for continuity of smaller samples. A value of p < 0.05 was taken a significant. The mean average age of all staff was 31.7 years and 75% of the respondents were female. Notably, there were massive shortages of staff, poor communication with the Ministry of Health, little or no training of staff, poor infrastructure and quality, and a drop in safety standards. There is poor communication in the clinic, insufficient staff and inadequate training in place. Monitoring of STD incidence needs drastic improvement. Operational research needs to be conducted. There is little or no direct communication between committee members and decision makers with the staff and power-distance relationships are great.