A Study On Strengthening Of Outpatient Department Services In Government Homoeopathic Hospital At Kekri, Rajasthan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v28i5.407Keywords:
Out-patient department Services, Patient satisfaction, Homoeopathic hospital.Abstract
Background:
The outpatient department is an important part of the overall running of the hospital. Many patients are examined and given treatment as outpatients before being admitted to the hospital at a later date as inpatients. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that OPD services provide an excellent experience for customers. Educational hospitals play a crucial role in healthcare delivery while simultaneously serving as training grounds for future healthcare professionals. The collegiate hospital of University College of Homoeopathy, Kekri. is newly started hospital by the state Government running in an old CHC building, which is located in the old area of the city and the infrastructure is not sufficient for the current hospital requirements. The current study is specifically useful for the assessment of the health care system in this old building of Homoeopathic hospital at Kekri, and the lacuna found here in old building can be corrected to enhance the quality of OPD services in the under-construction new building.
Objectives:
The general objective of this study was to assess the different parameters that are helpful to strengthen the Out-patient Department services in Government Homoeopathic Hospital at Kekri, Rajasthan. The specific objectives were to describe functioning of Out-patient Department services in a Government Homoeopathic Hospital at Kekri, Rajasthan, to identify the factors that affect the satisfaction level of patients and to suggest measures to improve and strengthen the quality of Out-patient Department services.
Materials & methodology:
The study was an institutional cross-sectional observational study, conducted at collegiate hospital of University College of Homoeopathy, Kekri, Rajasthan in between months of April 2024 to June 2024. Total 50 patients and their attendants irrespective of their age, gender and clinical condition, visiting various outpatient departments (OPDs), were examined in the study. All the subjects were provided by the self-made semi-structured patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ) at the exit point of the OPD, which was containing eleven statements with their responses ranging from strongly agree (score 5) to strongly disagree (score 1) related to OPD services. Data analysis was done using Microsoft excel with descriptive analysis.
Results:
The total score of the questionnaire (PSQ) was assessed and it was found maximum number of respondents (44%) were at the score range 20-28 that is not remarkable satisfaction regarding OPD services. Out of 550 responses only 172 (31.27%) responses found strongly agree with all the statements of the questionnaire.
Conclusion:
A middle range of satisfaction was found among majority of the patients with the services provided in OPD of the hospital. Most of the respondents were satisfied with services provided by the doctors, their reasoning power and their qualifications. For the infrastructure and basic amenities related issues the responses were showing dissatisfaction. Least satisfaction was found in services related to availability of educational material at OPD, accessibility of laboratory and the reports, accessibility of the pharmacy and lastly regarding behaviour of the staff. The patients’ feedback also revealed many insights regarding various aspects, which may improve the quality of services provided to the society.
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