Abstract of Dissertation

Keyword : Patient Satisfaction; Out Patient Department; Inpatient Department; Hospital Services; Healthcare Delivery System

Objective : The objective of the study is to assess the level of patient satisfaction of Outpatient Department and Inpatient Department in Sub District Hospital Dasuya., Hoshiarpur Dist. Punjab

Background : Patient satisfaction is a measure of the extent to which a patient is a content with the health care which they received from their health care provider. It can be defined as fulfillment or meeting of expectations of a person from a service or product. Hospitals are among the most complex and dynamic institutions of our society With the growing community consciousness about hospital services, expectations about the hospitals’ performance are also rising. Hospitals are being reoriented from just being centers for medical care and treatment to be more community oriented. There is now a greater pressure of work, for really over-worked hospital personnel due to a steep rise in population and type and serious nature of the diseases. Dissatisfaction among the patients visiting government hospitals is widely publicized by the mass media; political leaders and community in general and has a feeling that the hospital performance is not matching with the expenditure incurred on the creation of infrastructure. Patient satisfaction is one of the important goals of any health system. Patients' perceptions of health care systems seem to have been largely ignored by health care managers in developing countries. It depends upon many factors such as Quality of clinical services provided, availability of medicine, the behavior of doctors and other health staff, cost of services, hospital infrastructure, physical comfort, emotional support, and respect for patient preferences. A mismatch between patient expectation and the service received is related to decreased satisfaction.

Methodology : ? TYPE OF STUDY: Descriptive & Cross-Sectional. ? SETTING: Sub- District Hospital Dasuya, Punjab. ? SAMPLE SIZE: For the survey, 90 OPD Patients – (30 per month) &90 IPD Patients as directed by the management), TOTAL: 180 ? SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: Convenience Sampling ? DURATION OF STUDY- 1st Feb 2018 to 30th April 2018 SAMPLE COLLECTION CRITERIA Inclusion Criteria- OPD patients (both male and female) of different age groups and literacy level were only asked to fill the questionnaire. Exclusion Criteria- Patients coming in OPD on daily behalf were excluded in the study. Data Collection Procedure: A set of well-structured questionnaires containing close-ended questions was being developed. The questionnaire was pre-tested. The questionnaire covered the information related to patient's socio-economic characteristics, patient's choice of health facility, registration process, perception towards availability of basic amenities (seating arrangement, cleanliness, fans, toilets, drinking water, etc. Data Collection Instrument: A set of structured questionnaires containing close-ended questions was used. The questionnaire will cover the information related to patient's choice of health facility, the process of registration, perception for the availability of basic amenities (seating arrangement, cleanliness, fans, toilets, drinking water, etc.) The corresponding system of scoring of items in Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire -> Poor-- 1 -> Fair --2 -> Good --3 -> Very Good -- 4 -> Excellent – 5 Data Analysis Procedure: Collected data were analyzed using MS Excel.

Findings : It is observed that people are having maximum disappointment score in Ease in locating the departments through proper bilingual directional & departmental signage. Along with that Charges of the services are displayed and well communicated that is 30% of patients were not satisfied. Display of doctors list with room number and their availability information concludes that 9% of patients are not satisfied. Waiting time at the registration counter and lab investigations also conclude that 24-25% of patients are not satisfied. Availability of inquiry counter is also not available 13% of patients were not satisfied by this and 255 of patients were not satisfied with the time spent on examination. Availability, attitude, and promptness of ward attendants also need to be improved as 25% of patients were not satisfied.

Recommendations : All the OPD and IPD with least scoring like the ease in locating the departments, waiting time at the registration counter, timeliness supply of diets, availability of wheelchairs and stretchers, etc. were focused and improved.


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