Study of patient satisfaction in a surgical unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital

The hospitals have evolved from being an isolated sanatorium to a place with five star facilities. Patients and their relatives coming to the hospital not only expect world-class treatment, but also other facilities to make their stay comfortable in the hospital. This change in expectation has come due to tremendous growth of media and its exposure, as well as commercialization and improvement in facilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of patient/relatives satisfaction at tertiary care teaching hospital and feedback from them for improvement of the same.

The study was conducted by 1. Review of available national and international literature on the subject. 2. Carrying out survey amongst 50 patients and their relatives at one of the surgical unit by using structured questionnaire. 3. By analyzing the data using appropriate statistical methods.

Eighty two percent people were satisfied with the service at admission counter while 81% were satisfied with room preparation at the time of admission. The nursing services satisfied 80% of people while 92% were satisfied with explanation about disease and treatment by doctor. The behavior of nurses, doctors and orderlies satisfied 92, 92 and 83% of people. The cleanliness of toilets satisfied only 49% while diet services satisfied 78% of people.

The five major satisfiers were behavior of doctors, explanation about disease and treatment, courtesy of staff at admission counter, behavior and cooperation of nurses. The five major dissatisfiers were cleanliness of toilets, quality of food, explanation about rules and regulation, behavior of orderlies and sanitary attendant and room preparedness.