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Measuring the Quality of Service in the Public Health Care Sector in Mauritius:
A study of patients' satisfaction |
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Hemant Kassean, Lecturer |
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Department of Health
Management, University of Mauritius |
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Abstract |
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The aim of this study was
to determine the level of satisfaction of patients with
the care they receive in the 5 regional public hospitals
in Mauritius. The key objectives were: 1)To determine
patients' expectations of service quality in the regional
hospitals, 2)To determine patients' perceptions of service
quality in the regional hospitals, 3)To determine and
compare the data of satisfaction levels of the various
regional hospitals used in the survey, 4) To determine
and identify differences in service quality gaps based
on demographic profile of the respondents. |
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A survey was carried out between
12th April 2004-10th May 2004. A random sampling was used
based on the number of beds, type of ward by specialty
in each regional hospital and included participants who
had been inpatients within the past fourteen months and
who were attending their outpatients appointment. Patients
from the psychiatric and paediatric units were excluded
in this study. A questionnaire was administered using
face to face interview with 300 respondents. |
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In order to measure patients'
satisfaction, a HEALTHQUAL was devised to measure patients'
expectations and perceptions of 61 paired -items along
a 5-point likert scale. The various dimensions used were:
Admission to hospital, Attitude to medical staff, Attitude
to nursing staff, Ward/Hospital environment, Patients'
facilities/amenities, Discharge planning and coordination.
The Cronbach Alpha indicated that the HEALTHQUAL scale
was consistent, thus adding weight to the findings of
the study. Although these varied from hospital to hospital,
one of the key findings that emerged was that respondents
unanimously felt that their expectations were not being
met by the hospitals on a substantial number of items
that were significant to them. Respondents also expressed
concerns about the excessive waiting time, cleanliness
and hygienic conditions of the toilets and wards, and
a lack of empathy and poor communication from the health
care professionals. |
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Further analysis
demonstrated that "Patients perceptions of Medical
Staff"
and patients' perceptions of Nursing Staff" are
good predictors of patients' satisfaction. A summary
of some of the other key findings were as follows: No
differences were found in the mean gap scores between
respondents of the different gender groups. No differences
were found in the mean gap scores among respondents
of different age categories. No differences were found
in the mean gap scores for each dimension based on the
number of times the patients had been admitted to the
hospitals. Differences, ie p<0.01, exist along most
of the dimensions based on the regions where patients
live. The gap scores for those in the urban areas were
worse than those in rural areas. Differences exist along
all the dimensions based on hospitals stayed. The results
starting from the best were: Eastern region, northern,
southern, central and western. A slight difference ie
p<0.05 exists towards
the "Medical Staff" dimension based on the
wards the respondents stayed. Patients in general surgery,
obstetrics and cardiology wards have relatively better
gap scores towards "Medical Staff". |
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Health, Mobility, and Politics in a Small Island: The Case of Hong Kong's Post-SARS Revival Programme |
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Shu-Yun Ma, Associate
Professor |
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Department of Government
and Public Administration, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong |
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Validating Ethnomedicine with a View to Developing New Drugs |
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Ameenah Gurib-Fakim,
Professor; A. Hussein Subratty |
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Faculty of Science,
University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius |
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