Assessing patient satisfaction: implications for South Australian public hospitals

This paper reports on the results from 2620 South Australians who participated in the 2003 Patient Evaluation of Hospital Services. Patients were found to be generally satisfied with the care, services and amenities provided, with a statewide overall score of 86.3. Satisfaction was lowest in the patients' assessment of their involvement in their own care and treatment. Three demographic factors (younger age, female sex or tertiary education) predicted lower levels of satisfaction in the multivariate analysis, whereas living with others, non-emergency admission or admission to smaller hospitals were found to predict higher satisfaction. Despite administrative and organisational difficulties, and limited current evidence of increased quality or satisfaction, it is considered important to continue satisfaction research with the goal of encouraging the development of action plans for improvement of care, services and amenities.