Users' satisfaction with psychiatry services.

Sir ± The quality of patient care services provided by hospitals can be estimated by the level of consumer satisfaction (1). In psychiatry, a discipline with which stigma is associated, acceptability of services by patients and their families is likely to be a key element in treatment and recovery (2). Studies on users' assessment of mental health care provided by hospitals in India are scanty. We assessed the level of satisfaction with the hospital services in 104 randomly selected subjects (45 patients and 59 relatives of patients) attending the outpatient clinic of a tertiary neuropsychiatric centre in Delhi. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on 19 items related to efficiency; communication and behaviour of doctors, nurses and reception staff; waiting time; quality of clinical care; and supportive elements such as food, cleanliness, and the general atmosphere of the hospital. Eighty one per cent of the patients had been attending only the outpatient services, whereas 19% had also been admitted at some time during the course of their illness. The duration of treatment varied from 2 weeks to 180 months (median: 1.52 months) with the number of visits ranging from 2 to 350 (median: 12). The efficiency of doctors was perceived to be high or moderate by 57% and 43% of the subjects, respectively, and the availability of doctors was found adequate by more than 90%; 95.2% of respondents reported that the doctors were punctual and freely discussed the patients' problems, and 80% assessed waiting time for consultation at less than 2 hours. The efficiency of the nursing staff was rated high (39%) or moderate (61%), and most of the study subjects found their behaviour cordial. Punctuality of the reception staff was assessed as good (50%) or satisfactory (50%), with waiting time at reception and registration less than half an hour for nearly all (99%) of the respondents. Clinical care was rated to be good or satisfactory by 93% of the respondents. The supply of drugs and the quality of diet were found to be satisfactory among 75±80% of subjects, though there were some suggestions , specially with regard to increasing the availability of drugs. One particular action has contributed to the degree of satisfaction with services. Public hospitals in developing countries suffer frequently from overcrowding and, at some places, the service users may have to wait for hours. In the present setting, a system of numbered, coloured tokens …