Satisfaction of the incoming external users of health services from the Blood Collection Department of the General Hospital of Serres (Greece)

ABSTRACT

Background: The Phlebotomy Department of the General Hospital of Serres GR provides the proceeding external health service users with blood sampling facilities, therefore a satisfaction degree survey regarding the received services was considered critical to be conducted, while highlighting the importance of measuring the satisfaction of their expectations in relation to the quality of health services offered.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the degree of users satisfaction with the services provided by a  blood collection department of a General Public Hospital.

Material-Method: A cross sectional study of a 23-query questionnaire, whilst implementing convenience sampling of users proceeding for blood tests, was undertaken during December 2018 and January 2019, applied to 208 individuals and replied to by 200 of them. It was statistically analyzed via SPSS 21, while Pearson chi-squared distribution was used to test for independence, Cramer’s V and Contigency coefficient were used to test correlations, and Cronbach Alpha was used to measure internal consistency reliability, with the statistical significance level set at 0.05.

Results: High rates of “very” satisfied users were yielded in the main correlations between gender and (a) staff experience – competence in performing blood sampling, at 90,5% (men) and 78,6% (women), (b) reliability – speed of results export at 68,9% (men) and 65,1% (women) (c) agreement with the new GDPR procedures at 85,1% (men) and 73,8% (women) (d) satisfaction with service – wait time–courtesy of staff at 83,8% (men) and 71,4% (women) (e) equal treatment of un insured individuals, at 63,5% (men), and 72,2% (women). In the 3 sections of key questions considering the procedures of the Phlebotomy Department we received satisfaction rates of 85,8%, 80,1% and 95% (in totals of aggregated positive responses of «very» and «quite» satisfied).

Conclusions: Positive satisfaction rates of over 80% in the main procedures being followed, showed high levels of satisfied health service users.

Keywords: Research, needs satisfaction, health service users, quality of services provided