Satisfaction of Female Patients with Health Care Services at the Peri-urban Community Health Centre in Islamabad

Saba Savul,Zahid Naeem,Sajida Naseem

doi:10.7759/cureus.3101

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the satisfaction levels of female patients with the availability and quality of health care services provided at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Nurpur Shahan, a deprived peri-urban locality in Islamabad.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out among 346 randomly selected female patients who attended the CHC in Nurpur Shahan from January to March, 2018. Data was collected by face to face interviews using a pre-tested self-designed questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).ResultsFemale patients were largely satisfied with the behaviour (96%) and competence (97.1%) of doctors, the attitude of the paramedical staff (93.6%), quality of medicines (93.6%) and basic facilities at the CHC including drinking water, bathrooms, and cleanliness. Patients had mixed satisfaction levels with various aspects of antenatal services, post-natal care, immunization services as well as the location of CHC (58.7%), availability of prescribed medicines (67.1%) and affordability of laboratory tests at the centre (63.3%). Major areas of discontent were health education regarding breastfeeding and immunization, the average waiting time to see a doctor, the waiting area, and family planning services.ConclusionAlthough patient satisfaction levels with certain health care services were good, there is considerable room for improvement in other aspects of provided services at the CHC.

Highlights

Pakistan is a low income, developing country which lacks resources and good infrastructure
Female patients were largely satisfied with the behaviour (96%) and competence (97.1%) of doctors, the attitude of the paramedical staff (93.6%), quality of medicines (93.6%) and basic facilities at the community health centre (CHC) including drinking water, bathrooms, and cleanliness
A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March, 2018 for a total period of three months to evaluate the satisfaction of female patients with the availability and quality of health care services provided at the CHC in Nurpur Shahan, Islamabad

Summary

Introduction

Pakistan is a low income, developing country which lacks resources and good infrastructure. Community health centres (CHCs) aim to provide comprehensive, assessable, affordable and equitable health services for everyone without any discrimination [2,3]. They play a vital role in Pakistan to reach out to vulnerable, medically underserved and under privileged communities [4]. The residents of Nurpur Shahan live in extreme poverty and lack basic amenities such as health care facilities, water, and sanitation. The nearest medical facility available to the residents is a community health centre (CHC) which was established by Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University in collaboration with the Rotary Club Cosmopolitan. The quality, accessibility, and utilization of health services by women belonging to the low socioeconomic class is inadequate and inequitable [5]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion