Setting:The study was conducted at primary healthcare clinics in Ekurhuleni, one of the metropolitan districts, situated in an area east of the Gauteng province.Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used for this study. Participants were purposefully selected from the population and consisted of individuals who willingly consented to participate. Twelve semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Results:The study findings revealed challenges with management practices, for example, non-involvement in decision-making, lack of support and poor internal communication practices. In addition, challenges with human, material and financial resources were stated as reasons for non-compliance with quality standards. Conclusion:Recommendations to facilitate compliance with quality standards were described, which included implementation of effective management practices and allocation of adequate healthcare resources required to facilitate such compliance.

Background The Republic of South Africa (RSA) is shifting towards universal health coverage and a unified health system. This milestone can be achieved through the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI). To employ NHI, health establishments in the country are compelled to comply with quality standards. The non-compliance with quality standards at primary health care (PHC) clinics within a district in Gauteng, which was verified by quality standards’ audit reports, prompted an intervention. No prior research aimed at facilitating managers’ compliance with quality standards has been conducted within the context under study. This research gap necessitated an exploration on how managers’ compliance to quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng could best be facilitated. Objectives To describe recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng. Method A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used in this study. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted. Results The recommendations to facilitate managers’ compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics within a district in Gauteng were described. However, for the purpose of this article, only the recommendations seeking to address challenges with management practices as a reason for non-compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics will be discussed. These recommendations include involvement of PHC clinic managers in decision-making, adequate support from senior management and improvement of internal communication practices. Conclusion The researcher concludes that the senior management team in the district under study should strive to embrace the described recommendations as a strategy to facilitate managers’ compliance to quality standards at PHC clinics.

Compliance with quality standards in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is key in the realisation of the National Health Insurance (NHI), through which the country’s citizens could benefit from universal health coverage and a unified health system. However, contrary to the imperative stated above, the researcher, as the manager for compliance with quality standards at primary health care (PHC) clinics in Ekurhuleni, has for over a period of two years observed a pattern of non-compliance with quality standards. This prompted an exploration on how compliance with quality standards at these health establishments could be facilitated. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used. In-depth semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 12 managers at PHC clinics in Ekurhuleni. Data were analysed using Tesch’s protocol. The findings of this study revealed that PHC clinic managers in Ekurhuleni were faced with challenges in terms of management practices and the required health care resources, implying these as reasons for non-compliance with quality standards. Recommendations include allocating sufficient and appropriate human resources, providing adequate medical supplies and equipment, and increasing the budgets for PHC clinics in Ekurhuleni. These recommendations pertaining to the provision of adequate health care resources ought to be embraced by senior managers in Ekurhuleni as a strategy to facilitate compliance with quality standards at PHC clinics.