Measuring management training needs of hospital managers in Nepal

This is a study of hospital managers in Nepal, measuring their reported capability to undertake management tasks and explore their views about management development.

A questionnaire was administered through hospitals. Respondents were asked to rate a series of management tasks on a scale according to how important it was, for their role and their capability to perform it. These tasks were grouped into different factors. The sample included government hospital of each district and major private or hospitals run bu non-government organizations.

A total of 31 hospitals were visited in 18 districts. Information was obtained from 103 managers from different professions. In most hospitals visited, overall management was provided by the doctors. Few had undergone some training to take on management responsibilities. All types of managers, regardless of profession or type of hospital, reported a 'competence gap'for each factor defined as the difference between reported importance and capability. Non-government managers consistently rated themselves as beingmore capable than government managers, but the difference was only significant when it concerned managing People. The need for a separate cadre of managers was supported by 85% of respondents but a majority of doctors (57%) felt that the best people to manage hospitals were doctors.

Consistent with other studies from low income countries, there is an urgent need to provide different modalities of management developmentenabling hospital managers to improve their capabilities. There is widespread need of management training to be made available in Nepal.