Controle e mapeamento de mensuração de custos para um refeitório do setor público: um estudo de caso para o CERAE de Natal/RN

Abstract

The Brazilian Accounting Standards Applied to the Public Sector have been in effect since 2011, especially regarding the Cost Information System. However, implementation is gradually taking place in public agencies. The importance of cost management for managers is well known, as it brings benefits in terms of planning, decision-making, efficiency, and improved service quality. In this sense, one of the services provided by public agencies is food provision within healthcare units, which incurs expenses that need to be analyzed and controlled in order to assess their efficiency. Adequate control tools are necessary for measuring these expenses (costs). Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify existing controls in a Public Food and Nutrition Unit (UAN) that enable the calculation of meal costs. The research is a case study carried of the Centro Estadual de Reabilitação e Atendimento Ambulatorial Especializado (CERAE), of the Secretaria de Sáude Pública of Rio Grande do Norte (SESAP-RN), with an exploratory and descriptive nature, employing a qualitative approach, based on bibliographic and documentary research. Data collection was carried out during the month may 2023, conducted through semi-structured interviews and consultation of primary and secondary documents. The results indicate that the absence of controls within the UAN affects the unit's costs, and to reestablish these controls, at least three additional personnel are required in the sector. Thus, it will be possible to develop appropriate control tools to obtain the necessary information for calculating the cost per meal, using the cost calculation modeling proposed in this study. As future research recommendations, it is suggested to replicate the study in other public UAN, calculate the cost per meal in the unit under study after implementing the control adjustments using the modeling proposed by this study, and also assess additional costs/wastage resulting from the lack of control.