Lean operations practices as a tool for healthcare and nutrition for all: a case study of public hospitals in Nairobi County

Abstract

Healthcare and nutrition for all can be achieved by the application of lean operations practices in public hospitals to improve organizational performance. Research done has shown that private hospitals perform better than public hospitals in the delivery of their services. Lean operations practices can eliminate general inefficiencies, wastes in areas of production and provision of services and increase production. This paper sought to demonstrate how lean operations practices adopted by public hospitals in Nairobi County have led to enhanced efficiency and productivity. It also shows that lean operations practices can have an effect on performance if adopted by hospitals. Primary data was collected using semi - structured questionnaires administered through drop and pick method. A descriptive cross-sectional census survey was used on the hospitals in Nairobi County. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and multiple regression analysis. Results found that lean operations practices have been moderately adopted by public hospitals in Nairobi County and that these practices can explain 50% of the variations in performance. This effect was found to be statistically significant given that the F-value was higher than the Critical value and the calculated p-value was below 0.05 at 95% significance level. The study also found that the variables of specifying value and value stream mapping would have a negative effect on performance if one unit of production is added, while the other variables of pull, flow, 5S and perfection would have a positive effect. This study concluded that application of lean operations practices leads to improvement in organizational performance and recommends that public Organizations need to embrace lean operations practices and undertake training especially on the element of striving for perfection as it springboard for continual improvement and development.