Achieving Project Performance through Stakeholder Participation Practices: Empirical Evidence from Catheterisation Laboratory Projects at Selected Healthcare Facilities in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) projects are central to the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, yet their performance in achieving intended goals remains a concern in Kenya. This study examined how stakeholder participation in project identification, funding, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity building influences the performance of cath lab projects at three healthcare facilities in Nairobi City County: Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital, and Avenue Hospital. General Systems Theory and Stakeholder Theory guided this descriptive survey, which had a qualitative component. The target population was 340 top and middle-level managers, departmental employees, patients, and representatives of government agencies and employee unions. Using Taro Yamane's formula and proportionate stratified random sampling, 184 respondents were selected and 157 returned usable questionnaires (85.3%). Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with 12 cath lab beneficiaries, and were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and thematic analysis. All four forms of participation correlated positively and significantly with project performance (r = 0.611 to 0.706, p < 0.001). The regression model was significant and explained 70.3% of the variance in performance (adjusted R2 = 0.696; F(4, 152) = 89.9, p < 0.001). Funding (β = 0.644, p < 0.001) and monitoring and evaluation (β = 0.185, p = 0.001) were significant individual predictors, whereas project identification and capacity building were not once the other variables were controlled for, despite their strong bivariate correlations with performance. Interviewees highlighted communication on costs and timing, waiting-area privacy, and digital booking. The study concludes that stakeholder participation, particularly in funding and monitoring and evaluation, enhances cath lab project performance. Hospital managers and policymakers should institutionalise stakeholder participation across the project lifecycle, and future studies should extend to other countries and longitudinal designs.