Health Ministry survey: Patients satisfied with outpatient clinics

Lower scores given for physical conditions of centers.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: MARCH 29, 2018 07:15
A nurse works at a hospital (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A nurse works at a hospital
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Eighty-one percent of the respondents in the Health Ministry’s first survey of patients in general hospital outpatient clinics rated their general satisfaction with visiting outpatient clinics at between 8 and 10 (the highest).
Eight percent were very dissatisfied and rated their satisfaction at between 1 and 5. A total of 89% were satisfied with the information and explanations they received.
The vast majority of patients were satisfied with the attitudes and behaviors of doctors, nurses, technicians and reception staff and that their privacy was preserved.
Lower scores (averaging 76%) were given for the physical conditions, especially the lack of parking spaces among those who did not arrive by public transportation.
People under 34 were less satisfied than older ones.
The study is part of a series of ministry surveys of patient satisfaction and aimed at improving services, creating an organizational culture of continuous measurement, assessment of information to the public, empowering the patient in his encounters with the health system, and providing tools for government decision making.
The representative sample of 15,000 adults who had gone to a public outpatient clinic in one of the 23 general hospitals after making an appointment was assessed in a phone survey in the patient’s preferred language (Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, French or English). Each participants was asked to answer 50 questions.
They were asked about general satisfaction, willingness to recommend the hospital, the level of care and information they received, how long they waited and the physical conditions in the clinics. The median age of the participants was 62 years.
The ministry listed the types of outpatient clinics but did not mention any names of hospitals – not those that excelled and not those that were less pleasing.
The ministry explained that it was decided by a steering committee not to create a uniform score for each hospital, but to compare the hospitals according to types of clinics, since there is no uniform mix of the clinics in the various hospitals.