[Evaluation of patients' satisfaction level as a part of the quality of primary health care functioning].

UNLABELLED: The study of patient satisfaction from primary health care is a part of the broader project focused on assessment of the quality of health care system in Poland in the time of reforms.

THE AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate how Warsaw units of primary health care satisfy patients' needs concerning to accession, conditions and procedures of treatment and relations with staff.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The investigations were undertaken in Epidemiology and Health Promotion Department at Public Health School of the Medical Centre for Postgraduate Education in collaboration with Mazovian Public Health Centre and Health Promotion and Postgraduate Department of the National Institute of Hygiene. The data were obtained from randomly selected sample of 191 patients waiting on visits to general practitioner in primary health care units. The original questionnaire was elaborated in Public Health School of the Medical Centre for Postgraduate Education. The questionnaire consist of demographic information and twenty three core questions containing general assessment of primary health care, accession, conditions and procedures of treatment and relation to the staff.

RESULTS: Majority of waiting patients highly evaluated quality of services given them. The patients only one aspect of the primary health care assessed negatively, less then 50% of them stated that general practitioner took into account their economical situation.

CONCLUSIONS: (1) Collected data confirm the high level of patients' satisfaction with the units of primary health care. (2) Elaborated questionnaire seems to be useful measure for study of patients' satisfaction with health care services.