Ethical Responsiveness in Public Service (A Study of Government Hospitals in South Sulawesi, Indonesia)

Abstract

Medical service conditions in government hospitals in South Sulawesi show a lack of meaningful change inalertness and responsiveness from hospital staff in servicing their patients. This study found that the volumeof patient complaints was quite high, despite improvements in service procedures involving improvementsin service standards and changes in counter-based service mechanisms.This case study focuses on in-depth analysis of the ethical responsiveness of service providers at patientregistration desks and medical action counters. Data was collected via accidental sampling on both inpatientand outpatient services from the months of May to Augusts of 2016. Interactive data analysis was performedthroughout data collection to conclusion.Results showed that overall service in the Wahidin Sudirohusodo Makassar Regional Hospital was poorwith inconsistent implementation of ethical responsiveness in comparison to the Regional Hospital of theRegency of Barru. Impressions of the registration process, where initial interactions between patients andcounter clerks first occurred, were overwhelmingly negative. This was the case in both the Makassar hospitaland the Barru hospital, with feedback generally more positive at the Barru location. Geographical factorsand the volume of patients serviced by medical and non-medical staff were the primary determining factorsunderlying ethical responsiveness in service quality.