Are patients satisfied with accessibility and services provided at siddha hospitals? Findings of patient satisfaction survey from a district of South India

Venkatachalam D.; Kalaiselvi Selvaraj; Gomathi Ramaswamy; Veerakumar A.; Palanivel Chinnakali; Ganesh Kumar Saya

doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20182201

Authors

Venkatachalam D. Government Hospital, Kavundapadi, Tamil Nadu, India
Kalaiselvi Selvaraj Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalapet, Puducherry, India
Gomathi Ramaswamy Department of Community Medicine, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, India
Veerakumar A. Department of Community Medicine, Theni Medical College, Theni, Tamil Nadu, India
Palanivel Chinnakali Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India
Ganesh Kumar Saya Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20182201

Keywords:

AYUSH, Clients, Health care quality, Patient satisfaction, Siddha, Traditional medicine

Abstract

The study was aimed to assess patient satisfaction about with services provided by Siddha (indigenous) system of medicine which was merged with public health system recently in India. A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted among the outpatients attending selected siddha hospitals in Tamil Nadu. Perception regarding the quality of services was assessed from every 10^th patient visiting the hospitals during the month of February and March 2014. Of total 263 out patients interviewed, majority of them reported that the amenities related to infra-structure (47-68%) and OPD timings (96.6%) were satisfactory. However, 32% and 23% of the patients reported that seating facility and waiting time were not satisfactory respectively. Almost all patients were satisfied regarding competency, behaviour of siddha doctors and pharmacists. Of the 217 patients who revisited the siddha wing, most of the patients (98.2%) reported improvement in their illness. There is a scope to improvise the amenities related to infra-structure in these health facilities.

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