Inpatient Satisfaction Survey of a Tertiary Hospital in Imphal West, Manipur based on National Quality Assurance Guidelines (NQAS) Guidelines: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is an essential component of quality improvement of hospital services and patient safety. The NQAS guidelines developed by NHSRC, implemented in government hospitals all over India provides a comprehensive and objective measure against set criteria. There are no published studies conducted on patient satisfaction in tertiary hospitals of Manipur with the NQAS guidelines as study tool, thus the present study. Objective: To assess patients’ satisfaction among inpatients of a tertiary hospital in Imphal West, Manipur. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 424 inpatients admitted in a tertiary care hospital. Data were collected by interview using a questionnaire of 18 attributes scored on a 5-point Likert scale, adapted from the NQAS guidelines. The individual attribute score and the overall score is calculated to identify the attribute with poor score that needs improvement. A score of ≥75% or <75% was used as cut off for satisfied/unsatisfied patient satisfaction, respectively.  Results: The overall satisfaction during the treatment as an in-patient was found to be 96%. The highest scoring attribute was regularity of doctors’ attention at 95.8%. The lowest scoring attribute was unavailability of all prescribed drugs from the hospital at 37%. Six out of 18 attributes assessed had a poor patient satisfaction score. Conclusions: Most of the patients were satisfied with the overall care received. Patients were found to be unsatisfied in the attributes pertaining to waiting time at the registration/admission counter, cleanliness of bathrooms & toilets, hospital food, etc.