First referral hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: the need for a renewed focus
Issued Date
2024-02-22
Resource Type
eISSN
14602237
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85185901321
Pubmed ID
38386923
Journal Title
Health policy and planning
Volume
39
Issue
2
Start Page
224
End Page
232
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Health policy and planning Vol.39 No.2 (2024) , 224-232
Suggested Citation
Mazhar R.J., Willows T.M., Bhattarai S., Tinn C.S., Misago N., English M. First referral hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: the need for a renewed focus. Health policy and planning Vol.39 No.2 (2024) , 224-232. 232. doi:10.1093/heapol/czad120 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/97444
Title
First referral hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: the need for a renewed focus
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
First referral hospitals (FRHs) are the hospitals closest to the community, which offer expertise or technologies to complement more widely available 'basic' ambulatory care or inpatient care. Despite having been a subject of interest in global health policy in the latter half of the 20th century, in more recent decades, they appear to have been overshadowed. This paper reviews what is understood by FRH, drawing on both academic and policy literature, complemented by specific country case studies. We undertook three reviews: a grey literature review of global and regional policy reports and documents, a structured review of the academic literature on FRH and a review of FRH-related policies in eight countries. Our findings indicate that there is confusion regarding the definitions and roles of FRH; they have fallen off the policy agenda globally and they suffer from lack of advocates in part related to the absence of cohesive definition. Meanwhile, these facilities continue to fulfil important functions in health systems in low- and middle-income countries, and expectations for service delivery remain high. In light of these findings, this paper calls for renewed interest and investment in FRH from the global health academic and policy-making community.