Access to a quality healthcare among prisoners – perspectives of health providers of a prison infirmary, Ghana

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of health system factors on access to a quality healthcare among prisoners in Ghana.

Data were gathered using different qualitative methods (interviews and participant observation) with staff of the James Camp Prison, Accra. Findings were analyzed using a framework method for the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interview data; and interpreted with the theoretical perspective of health systems thinking and innovation.

The study concludes that health system factors such as inadequate funding for health services, lack of skilled personnel and a paucity of essential medical supplies and drugs negatively affected the quality of healthcare provided to inmates.

The limited facilities available and the sample size (healthcare workers and prison administrators) impeded the achievement of varied views on the topic.

The paper recommends the need for health policy makers and authorities of the Ghana Prison Service to collaborate and coordinate in a unified way to undertake policy analysis in an effort to reform the prisons healthcare system.

The national health insurance scheme was found to be the financing option for prisoners’ access to free healthcare with supplementation from the Ghana Prison Service. The study recommends that policy makers and healthcare stakeholders should understand and appreciate the reality that the provision of a quality healthcare for prisoners is part of the entire system of healthcare service delivery in Ghana and as such should be given the needed attention.

This is one of few studies conducted on male only prisoners/prison in the context of Ghana. It recommends the need for an integrated approach to ensure that the entire healthcare system achieves set objectives in response to the primary healthcare concept.