Patients' satisfaction with services obtained from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Northern Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: Periodic patient satisfaction surveys provide feedback to hospital management and staff regarding the quality of services rendered. These surveys have become routine as part of total quality management in developed countries. We assessed patient satisfaction with services provided in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria.

METHOD: Structured questionnaires were administered on a cross-section of 201 patients and two focus group discussions were held with patient relatives at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.

RESULTS: Overall, 83% of the patients were satisfied with the services received from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, while the remaining 17% were dissatisfied. Specifically, 88%, 88%, 87% and 84% of the patients were satisfied with patient provider relationship, in-patient services, hospital facilities and access to care. However, 30% and 27% of the patients were dissatisfied with waiting time and cost of treatment respectively. Patients and their relatives complained about delayed appointments, missing folders, missing laboratory results and long appointments for ultrasound and other radiological investigations.

CONCLUSION: The high patient satisfaction notwithstanding, health workers need to consider patients as customers by being friendly and reducing waiting time for consultation and investigations. Widespread implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme will also reduce the cost of services and drugs to patients.