Assessment of patient satisfaction in outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India: a questionnaire based study

Abstract

Background: Feedback is an important and integral part of any system. Perception of the beneficiaries in any healthcare setup provides impact for refining the system. The assessment of the patients’ satisfaction on different issues regarding healthcare services provides insight about the drawbacks of different healthcare systems. This could assist to upgrade the quality of services through different interventional measures. Present study evaluated the patient satisfaction in outpatient departments (OPD) of a tertiary care hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal.Methods: A total of 500 patients, attending different OPD in a tertiary care hospital were randomly selected for an observational, questionnaire based interview study, initiated in 2016. Some predictors for patients’ satisfaction like ‘outpatient department services’, ‘waiting time’, ‘cleanliness’, ‘privacy’ and ‘any problem faced during health checkup’, ‘overall satisfaction’ were evaluated.Results: Present study showed 78% of the study population was satisfied with the service received and 81% opined that clean environment was effectively maintained in the hospital premises and different outpatient departments. 83%, 84% and 75% of the patients were satisfied regarding the registration process, services received from the doctors and pharmacy, respectively. However, waiting time was too long and privacy was not maintained properly.Conclusions: Present study regarding patients’ satisfaction towards quality health care concluded that optimal care can be provided by combining both medical and social aspects, influencing the psychological factors of the patients. A separate system should be developed on assessment of “need of the patient” as well as guiding the patient for proper use of the health facilities.