Abstract

The present study was conducted to know the various reasons for patient dissatisfaction at various places & explanations of service providers for patient dissatisfaction. 400 patients were selected from all clinical departments for the study to know the satisfaction and then the key service providers of various departments were interviewed for the explanations of the same at Government Medical College Hospital, Miraj. Out of 400 patients 364 (91%) had reported one/ more dissatisfaction/s. Higher frequencies of dissatisfaction reporting found in illiterate, lower social class, in-door patients, treated by surgical departments & lower frequencies of dissatisfaction in age group below 15 years and rural dwellers. Of the 37 types of dissatisfaction reported, 10 were found to be of serious nature viz. cursory clinical examination (56%), lack of counseling (40%), inadequate privacy during clinical examination (14.28%), lack of explanation regarding drug schedule (43%), unsatisfactory emergency management (32.95%), occurrence of post-operative surgical complications (28.82%), discharged without relief (6.18%) & illegal demand of money, etc. Most of these were ‘acts of omission’ on part of service providers. In terms of legal liability, the ‘service-provider’ constitutes a ‘collective responsibility’ with respect to application of law. Some of the dissatisfactions need to be taken seriously and prevented. Emphasised the need for consumer education, creation of permanent consumer grievance redressal cell in hospital, availability and easily accessible of ‘complaint register’, staggering of O.P.Ds etc.

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