Challenges Faced by Health Managers in Healthcare Delivery Systems in Bangladesh

Background Health managers in healthcare delivery systems in Bangladesh face several challenges that make it difficult for them to provide quality service to patients. Despite these challenges, there are also opportunities for improvement. The healthcare delivery system in Bangladesh can be improved by increasing health facilities, providing more skilled workforce, and allocating more financial resources. This research aimed to identify challenges the health managers face. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted all over Bangladesh by conducting both online and physical data collection simultaneously. All 568 members of the study population were approached in several ways. In total, 140 health managers who had at least 6 months of work experience participated in this study. Face-to-face and web-based data were collected via a semi structured questionnaire. Data analysis was aimed at determining the prevalence and associations between different factors. Results Workload-related challenges were reported by 65% of health managers, whereas target-driven stress affected 85% of them. The monthly target was the most stressful target (86.6%), which was made difficult by the suboptimal availability of resources (84%). Career progression-related challenges were reported by 70.7%, while approximately 70% perceived resource limitation-related challenges. In addition, 86.1% reported facing some sort of challenge in store management. At least 54.8% reported difficulties dealing with the local situation and with local government offices. Health workforce scarcity was perceived by 87.4% of the respondents. Conclusion Healthcare delivery systems in any country trust health managers for their quality and efficiency. This study suggests prioritizing combating those challenges that may result in improved health service delivery and retention by health managers. The study results could provide policy makers and health administrators with a clearer picture of the measures to be taken to alleviate those problems. These findings will be especially helpful in creating and maintaining an environment in which health managers can express themselves in a way that could unlock the full potential of the health care delivery system and managers themselves alike.