General Male Patients’ Experiences When Visiting Public Health Facilities in Limpopo Province, South Africa

TL;DR

This study explores the negative experiences of male patients visiting public health facilities in Limpopo, South Africa, highlighting poor service and ethical issues.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the challenges faced by male patients in public health facilities in Limpopo.

Findings

Participants reported poor service and discrimination at public health facilities.

Health workers were described as rude and disrespectful, with breaches of confidentiality.

Despite challenges, participants were satisfied with health education provided.

Abstract

The quality of healthcare services provided by healthcare workers is crucial and plays an important role in determining patient health‐seeking behaviour and their further engagement with health services. This study explored general male patients’ experiences when visiting public health facilities to use health services in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

A qualitative exploratory design was employed through in‐depth focus group discussions to gather general men's experiences at visited health facilities. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted through four focus group discussions with 28 purposively selected men. Collected data were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Tech's eight steps were used to analyse data and guide the development of the main themes and sub‐themes. Trustworthiness was guaranteed via credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Venda Research Ethics Committee with reference number FHS/21/PH/26/1215.

Participants reported poor service, discrimination, poor communication by health workers, aggressive, rude and disrespectful staff, confidentiality breaches and privacy problems and satisfaction with offered health education.

Services provided at visited public healthcare facilities are poor, and healthcare professionals who assisted participants at visited health facilities did not adhere to ethical guidelines when dealing with patients.