Service quality in alcohol treatment: a research note

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate service quality in a UK privately funded alcohol treatment clinic.

Data were gathered via interviews with two groups of participants using the SERVQUAL questionnaire. The first group comprised 32 patients and the second 15 clinic staff. The SERVQUAL instrument measures service quality expectations and perceptions across five service dimensions and identifies gaps between service expectations and perceptions of what was delivered.

Patients' service quality expectations were exceeded on four of five dimensions. However, staff members felt services fell below expectations on four of five dimensions with the "reliability" service dimension emerging as the common service element falling below expectations for both participant groups. It was concluded that achieving consistent service delivery and increasing empathy between staff and patients improves overall service quality perceptions.

The paper relies on self-report methods from a relatively small number of individuals.

There have been limited research studies measuring alcohol treatment service quality in the private sector.