[Patient satisfaction as a quality indicator in mental health]

To improve the quality of care in a Mental Health Hospital and identify the level of patient satisfaction.

A descriptive, longitudinal, and retrospective study was conducted on 666 patients who completed treatment in the Mental Health Day Hospital of Salamanca, during the period 1994-2012, using the Hospital Management Annual Reports. A questionnaire designed for this purpose was used as the measurement tool.

Most of the patients satisfactorily valued aspects, such as the general impression of the treatment (90% said «good/fairly good») and perception of being helped (94% perceived «very/fairly helped»); with 83% believing that the hospital is accessible. As regards empathy-understanding, it was noted that 14% feel discontent. While 18% of patients expected to be completely cured, the 83% of patients that finished their treatment have said that, in their opinion, the symptoms have subsided «very or somewhat». As regards the knowledge that they have about their disease, 30% believe it has advanced «a lot.»

Based on the perceptions reported by patients, it may be said that in general, the level of user satisfaction in the Mental Health Day Hospital is high. Assessing quality through the user opinions helps control the quality, considering that patient satisfaction is a good indicator of result of the care received during their hospitalisation.