Determining the Financial Rewards that Influence Medical Doctor’s Retention in the Public Health Sector: A Case of Ghana

Retention of medical doctors within the public healthcare sector has remained a pressing challenge in Ghana. This study is guided by the Equity theory (1965). The study employed the use of a cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted in three public-based hospitals in Accra, Ghana namely: Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, and University of Ghana Medical Center, Accra. Using a random sampling method, a tagret study population of 370 medical doctors was obtained and a sample size of 192 was obtained using the Yamane formula. The instrument of data collection was a structured questionnaire. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed with 193 returned representing a 96.5% response rate. The study evaluated the collected using descriptive statistics using: tables, mean, frequencies, and percentages and also established the research objectives employing inferential statistics where a linear regression model was employed. The dependent variable was retention (RETM), while the independent variable was salary remuneration (SRM), financial bonuses (FBM), and the prompt payment of financial entitlements (PPM). The result of the regression analysis shows that the R-square is 0.445, the relationship between RETM and SRM was statistically significant at P-value<0.05, while the coefficient is positively related at 0.242. The relationship between RETM and FBM was also positive and statistically significant at a p-value<0.05 and a coefficient of 0.589. There was a p-value>0.05 between RETM and PPM showing a non-significant relationship. The study concludes that salary remuneration and financial bonuses are the most influential financial factors in retaining medical doctors in public hospitals. The study recommends increasing the salaries of medical doctors and introducing performance-based financial bonuses to retain medical doctors.