Patient satisfaction using servqual method at a specialty hospital at Ghaziabad

Abstract

Hospitals have started providing five star facilities. The patients and their relatives coming to the hospital not only expect world-class treatment, but also other facilities to make their stay comfortable in the hospital. This change in attitude and expectation has come due to commercialization and improvement in the facilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of patient/relatives’ satisfaction at tertiary care teaching hospital and feedback from them for improvement of the same. The study was conducted by distributing 100 structured questionnaires amongst patients and their relatives to find out the factors, which satisfy them in a tertiary care super specialty hospital and by analyzing the data using appropriate statistical methods. SERVQUAL is a standardized and reliable instrument that identifies five different dimensions of service quality and validates those dimensions in different service situations (Rohini and Mahadevappa, 2006). Parasuraman et.al.(1988), in their SERVQUAL model, identified five dimensions viz. responsiveness, reliability, assurance, tangibles and empathy on the basis of which customers’ expectations and perceptions are measured. Eighty-four percent people were satisfied with the service at the admission counter while 79% were satisfied with room preparation at the time of admission. The nursing services satisfied 74% of people while 90% were satisfied with explanation about disease and treatment by doctor. The behaviour of nurses, doctors and orderlies satisfied 90%, 88% and 80% of people, respectively. The cleanliness of toilets satisfied only 51%, while diet services satisfied 75% of people. The five major satisfiers were behaviour of doctors, explanation about disease and treatment, courtesy of staff at admission counter, behaviour and cooperation of nurses. The five major dissatisfiers were cleanliness of toilets, quality of food, explanation about rules and regulation, behaviour of orderlies and sanitary attendant and room preparedness.