Using SERVQUAL in health libraries across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Information Science
• Library Management

Background:

• The National Health Service (NHS) library services in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall conducted a collaborative quality assessment in 2001.
• Measuring service quality is crucial for optimizing healthcare library provision and user satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the service quality of ten individual NHS libraries in the southwest peninsula.
• To establish a benchmark for comparing service quality across participating health libraries.

Main Methods:

• The SERVQUAL diagnostic tool, developed in the 1980s, was employed to measure service quality.
• The survey assessed user expectations against their perceptions of service delivery.

Main Results:

• Overall, NHS library services were perceived by users as meeting and exceeding expectations.
• Key performance areas identified as strong include reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully provided a quantifiable measure of service quality for participating health libraries.
• This initiative enabled individual libraries to benchmark their performance and identify areas for improvement.