Qatar Ambulance Service staff's perception on the Quality-of-Service delivery to patients

Abstract

Background: Quality improvement has been well documented in various industries to improve safety and processes.1 However, limited research has taken place within the pre-hospital sector in this regard. Various factors can be attributed to the delivery of effective services. Studies often investigate customer/patient perception and often sideline the importance of employee perception.2 This study evaluates Qatar's Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service (HMCAS) staffs’ perception on service delivery to patients they treat and transport. Methods: An online survey was designed and distributed to HMCAS staff working within the emergency section (N = 750). A 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) was used. The SERVQUAL model consisting of 5 dimensions (RATER): Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, Empathy, and Responsiveness was used.3 Two variables with the highest perception score were regarded as the drivers of service quality. A negative gap score (perception minus expectation) was used as the basis for the study recommendations. Results: As per the required calculated sample size to achieve a 95% confidence interval, 255 questionnaires were completed. Respondents were 79% Ambulance Paramedics, 18% supervisors, and 3% managers. The weights of each dimension's variables were calculated to obtain perception and expectation scores. Descriptive statistics and gap scores of the survey responses are presented in Table 1 for the two variables of each dimension. None of the gap scores were found to be statistically significant. The proposed recommendations generated from this study are presented in Table 2. Conclusion: A standardized staff quality perception tool can assist in identifying potentially missed quality-related service issue(s). In this study, the SERVQUAL model was easily adapted and applied to the pre-hospital Emergency Medical Service setting in Qatar and proved useful in identifying service delivery proponents needing attention. Overall and reassuringly, the staff believes that they provide quality service to their patients.