Inventory Management Practices and Performance of Public Health Facilities in Nairobi City County, Kenya.

Health supply chain is a key pillar to sustainable development of a country. Majority of the global population depends on proper supplies and services to access quality health care. Thus, inventory management establishes itself as backbone of health supply chain delivery. However, performance of public health facilities has been fluctuating over the past years because of risks whose outcome affect procurement, thus, undermining the capability functionality of the health sector. This study sought to investigate the effect of inventory management practices on performance of public health facilities in Nairobi City County. The guide specific objectives applied for this study comprised automated systems, inventory levels management, and inventory budgeting and just-in-time inventory. Theories related to the study were economic order quantity, lean theory, contingency theory and transactional cost analysis. Additionally, a conceptual framework was adopted to show the causal relationship of the independent variables automated systems, inventory levels management, and inventory budgeting and just-in-time inventory with the performance of public health facilities as the dependent variable. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study applying both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The target population was the 290 staff of the level four public health facilities that are seven in number within the county. Stratified random sampling technique was used to pick a sample size of 180 respondents which represented the procurement, stores, medical and hospital administrative functions. Both primary and secondary data was used, with the primary data obtained through questionnaires that was administered by the researcher. Quantitative data was also be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 with descriptive statistics presented in figures and tables. Further pilot testing was undertaken before main study to assist in identification of probable weakness of the research instrument through data validity and reliability test. The Cronbach’s Alpha value was greater than 0.7 which indicated that the questionnaire met the minimum acceptable threshold. The study findings showed that inventory management practices namely automated systems, inventory levels management, inventory budgeting and just-in-time inventory significantly influence the performance of public health facilities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study concluded that performance was predicted to improve for every unit increase in these practices. The study further recommends that public health facilities should implement automated systems to reduce the need for manual inventory tracking and management. Some recommendations include through assessing needs, choosing the right technology, systems implementation, user training, and need identification. This will ensure improved inventory management and improve performance of public health facilities.