Nearly 8 in 10 patients satisfied with public healthcare services

Nearly 8 in 10 patients satisfied with public healthcare services
File photo of the National Cancer Centre.
PHOTO: Nearly 8 in 10 patients satisfied with public healthcare services

SINGAPORE - In the Patient Satisfaction Survey (PSS) 2013 carried out by the Ministry of Health (MOH) from September to December 2013, overall satisfaction across all public healthcare institutions remained at 77 per cent - unchanged from 2012.

The percentage of respondents who said that they would recommend the services of public healthcare institutions also remained at 78 per cent.

The PSS is part of the MOH's ongoing effort to assess the level of patient satisfaction and gather suggestions for continual service improvements at Singapore's Health Care Institutions (HCIs).

The PSS conducted in 2013 is the ninth such survey since the first one was conducted in 2004. A total of 12,279 patients and caregivers participated in the survey, which was carried out by an independent survey company.

Of note is that some National Specialty Centres (NSCs) have made progress in the delivery of their service. Out of the nine NSCs, the National Cancer Centre, the National Dental Centre and the Singapore National Eye Centre achieved significant improvements in overall satisfaction.

The survey also showed that the public healthcare institutions generally met or exceeded the respondents' expectations, with 79.4 per cent of respondents stating so.

This is the highest score achieved since the survey started. The polyclinics under the National Healthcare Group and SingHealth contributed some of the highest ratings in this category.

MOH said it is heartened to note that there is an overall improvement in the service-quality attributes compared to 2012.

Among the healthcare professionals, MOH noted that nurses have improved the most when it comes to service touch-points in areas such as skills and knowledge, care and concern for the patients, and provision of clear explanations on procedures and care.

However, the survey also showed that waiting times remained as one of the key concerns patients want to see improvement in. MOH said it is working with the HCIs to improve in this area.

MOH said it will conduct the next PSS beginning in September this year.

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