The CNA news report was nice and didn't focus on the hospitals and sectors that didn't score that well. Hmmm the survey also didn't pursue why 24% of patients were presumably dissastisfied with the healthcare institutions. For hospital and related services to improve, those sadly missing questions are just as important as to why people are happy about the current healthcare infrastructure. With rising medical costs, I'm surprised that more people were not unhappy, regardless if their grouses over overcharging were valid or not.
In a nutshell, Alexandara Hospital scored the highest satisfaction level but what was not mentioned by the press is that Changi General Hospital had the lowest score with 66%. The overall improvements was 2% points over the 2008 results according toe CNA. I thought it was actually a 1% point improvement according to the MOH website but maybe there was some mistake somewhere. Since 2005, the improvements have not been spectacular which is understood as it gets harder to improve standards in a diminishing marginal returns perspective, and it is impossible to please everyone.
76% of patients satisfied with healthcare institutions in 2009 survey
05 April 2010
SINGAPORE : Seventy-six per cent of patients have expressed overall satisfaction with public healthcare institutions.
This is an improvement of two percentage points over findings from 2008.
Seventy-eight per cent of patients also said they would recommend the services to others, compared to 73 per cent in 2008.
The improved showing was reflected in the independent 2009 Patient Satisfaction Survey commissioned by the Ministry of Health.
Nearly 10,000 patients from the public hospitals, national specialty centres and polyclinics were interviewed between September and December last year.
They were also asked to assess their perceptions based on nine quality service attributes, including knowledge and skills of doctors, and care and concern by nurses.
Among the hospitals, Alexandra Hospital continued to achieve the highest overall satisfaction ratings at 85 per cent.
As for national specialty centres, the Institute of Mental Health clinched the top position with a satisfaction rating of 90 per cent, while Marine Parade Polyclinic was ranked top amongst polyclinics for patient satisfaction.
But while patient satisfaction have improved, the waiting time to consult the doctor remains an area of dissatisfaction.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said the healthcare institutions will have to work harder on this area.
It added that it will continue to increase the number of doctors, but said this will have an impact on operating costs.
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