A survey of patient and family satisfaction with social work services

Client satisfaction can be important indicator of the quality of social work services. This article reports the results of a survey conducted by a social work department of a large urban teaching hospital to elicit patient and family reaction to its services. A random, proportionate sample of in- and out-patient cases in medical and psychiatric programs was used. In general, staff was seen as helpful, although with interesting variations depending on the social work function performed. The findings have implications for education, supervision, quality assurance, levels of staffing and staff's perception of their usefulness.