Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in the use of the Establishment Code among Health Care Assistants in Selected Government Hospitals in Colombo Regional Director of Health Services division

Introduction: All the rules and regulations needed to be followed by the government servants are mentioned in the Establishment code (E-code) of Sri Lanka. All government employees should be compliant with the E-code when they work as public servants.

 

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards E-Code of Health Care Assistants (HCAs) in selected government hospitals in Colombo Regional Director of Health Services (ROHS) division.

 

Methods: A cross sectional study was done among 392 HCAs from base hospitals and divisional hospitals in Colombo ROHS division. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data to assess the knowledge and attitudes of HCA on selected aspects of E- code. To assess the practical aspects of E-code, information related to the violation of E-code by HCA was collected using data collection form and observation check list. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21.

 

Results: The response rate was 85.4%. The overall knowledge of the respondents was good (89.1%). Their knowledge was highest for "Leave and Service" (94.9%) and lowest for "Disciplinary Procedures" (69.5%). Good attitudes towards the E-code were observed among 56.0% of the respondents. The complete uniform was not worn by 13.5% of HCAs. Absenteeism was observed among 28% of HCAs while 18% reported late to hospital.

 

Conclusion: Majority of HCAs had good knowledge on E-code. Their attitude towards contents of E -code was average. The practices of HCAs in relation to E-code were not satisfactory with concerns over wearing complete uniform, absenteeism and punctuality.