An assessment of quality of care provided at Outpatient Department (OPD) at BH Kinniya using patient satisfaction survey

Out Patient Department (OPD) is considered as the shop window of the hospital. This is because the OPD renders the first contact of a patient (Pt) or an outsider who seeks the services of the hospital. Here the patients call the outdoor room, consult with the doctor for his/ her problem, take the medicine given by the doctor and go back. If the doctor feels that the outdoor patient entails admission and needs indoor treatment then the patient is kept in the ward. It is shown that a higher level of patient satisfaction could improve the compliance of patients to treatment, which could lead to encouraging outcomes of the disease itself. The study was carried out among 300 patients, giving a response rate of 85 %. The sample group consisted of females, 44.5%and males 40.5%Less than 18 years of age group was omitted from the study. More than half of the patients agreed that the OPD could be simply located (63.2%) and was clean (78.7%). However, only a smaller amount decided that the seating facilities were inadequate (42.1%) and that the seating was contented and patient satisfaction is an imperative tool to measure the quality of care provided to the patient. In this study, patient satisfaction was restrained in relation to OPD services under five domains as well as individual features within each domain. Most of the patients presented gratification based on their involvement related to physical facilities, pharmacy services and consultation services in the OPD while it was poor for waiting time mostly for obtaining medicine and consultation (54.6%).