Patients’ satisfaction with government health care and services in the Taung district, North West Province

Abstract

Curationis 29(2): 12-15This was a descriptive study that determined patients' satisfaction with health care in the Taung district state health institutions, North West Province. One hospital, three health centres and five clinics were randomly selected, and consecutive patients were recruited at outpatients during 17 May 2000 -17 June 2000. The patients completed a questionnaire regarding the service or care provided. Five hundred and sixty seven patients participated in the study. The median age was 30 years, and most patients were female (76.7%). More than half of patients (56.8%) were not satisfied with the availability of medicines and other supplies. Approximately two thirds of patients (65.2%) did not know about the quality of telephone services rendered. There was a high level of dissatisfaction (63.1 %) among patients regarding accessing doctors after hours. Most patients were satisfied with the general attitude of health workers (62.1 %) but 21.2% were dissatisfied. Few (11.7%) patients felt rushed during consultation. Most patients felt they received good health education when their illness was discussed (74.6%). Words and explanations used were easy to understand (76.7%); and they were not discouraged from asking questions (69.9%, n=539). Generally the level of satisfaction among the patients was high except for difficulty in accessing doctors after hours and lack of medicines.

Patient experiences and health system responsiveness in South Africa

“…Possible explanations for the above differences may lie in the better quality of private services or that expectations are already high among the population, both for users and nonusers, and because the different measures used in terms of getting a lower score with the responsiveness measure as compared to a dissatisfaction measure. In this study 15.4% of public out-patients were dissatisfied with the availability of medicines, which seem lower than in some local studies, 56.8% [9]. In multivariate regression analysis sex, age and educational level were not found to be associated with health care responsiveness unlike in some other studies [7,11,13,17].…”

“…Peltzer [ 8 ] found in a community survey in rural South Africa a low acceptability of primary health care: 78% felt that the medical services are poor. Bediako, Nel and Hiemstra [ 9 ] found among hospital and out-patients in the North-West Province that more than half of the patients (56.8%) were not satisfied with the availability of medicines and other supplies. Approximately two thirds of patients (65.2%) did not know about the quality of telephone services rendered.…”

Knowledge and Communication Needs Assessment of Community Health Workers in a Developing Country: A Qualitative Study

“…Possible explanations for the above differences may lie in the better quality of private services or that expectations are already high among the population, both for users and nonusers, and because the different measures used in terms of getting a lower score with the responsiveness measure as compared to a dissatisfaction measure. In this study 15.4% of public outpatients were dissatisfied with the availability of medicines, which seem lower than in some local studies, 56.8% [9]. In multivariate regression analysis sex, age and educational level were not found to be associated with health care responsiveness unlike in some other studies [7,11,13,17].…”

Availability and acceptability of HIV counselling and testing services. A qualitative study comparing clients’ experiences of accessing HIV testing at public sector primary health care facilities or non-governmental mobile services in Cape Town, South Africa

“…Longer waiting times were consistently reported as a source of dissatisfaction in health facilities and may be potential barriers to access. Many South African studies have reported client dissatisfaction with long waiting times with other health services [ 26 – 29 ]. Shorter waiting time encouraged the use of NGO mobile services and may therefore provide an avenue to reduce the time at HCT and thereby expand uptake.…”

“…Reports regarding the friendliness of health facility staff were contradictory and instances of poor staff demeanour were noted. While some South African studies reveal high levels of satisfaction with public health care providers [ 26 , 30 ], others have reported that staff did not treat patients with sufficient respect [ 27 , 31 ]. Anticipated disrespectful treatment has been shown to be partly accountable for delayed care seeking [ 13 ].…”