Patients' satisfaction and quality of care in psychiatric out-patient settings

Background: Patients' satisfaction with the provided care reflects the success of a given service and improves compliance to treatment regimes as well as promptness in seeking help for further episodes. Aims: To find out whether we meet our service users' expectations, to spotlight any areas of deficiency, and to explore patients' characteristics predicting and correlating with their satisfaction. Method: All patients (103) attending psychiatric out-patient service for 3 consecutive months at Victoria Centre, North East London Mental Health Trust, were approached. The Psychiatric Care Satisfaction Questionnaire (PCSQ) was employed and multiple regression analysis was used to identify predictors of satisfaction. Results: Fifty nine percent of patients approached, consented to the study. Overall, 85% of the participants were satisfied with the service. A sizable proportion expressed dissatisfaction with their type of therapy, feasibility of obtaining appointments, degree of therapists' omnipotence, need for counselling, availability of information and medication side effects. Services unrelated to the therapist also needed improvement. Women, those who are unemployed and those expressing a need for counselling were found to be less satisfied than their counterparts. Age was found to be directly related to satisfaction. Conclusions: Service planners need to focus on areas of weakness highlighted, employing basic measures such as enhancement of communication skills. Availability of alternative therapies should be considered. Predictors of lower satisfaction should be targeted.