Factors Influencing Patients Perception About Quality of Services at the Mulago ISS Clinic.

Abstract

Introduction The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing patient’s perception about quality of care provided at the Mulago ISS clinic an adult HIV care centre. Specific factors like age, gender, level of education, opinion about interpersonal skills of health workers at the ISS clinic, patients opinion on health providers work, the patients opinion on visiting the ISS clinic and their opinion about the ISS Clinic as a facility. The sole purpose of conducting this study in this particular area was to give recommendations to the stake holders, management and health workers on how to handle patients when they visit health facilities. Methodology The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Quantitative and qualitative approaches of data collection were employed. A total of 360 respondents constituted the sample size of the study. These included patients who had been attending the ISS Clinic for at least one year. A focus group discussion of 10 health workers was also used to generate qualitative data. Results The primary outcome was Education level influences the opinion about interpersonal skills of the health workers where by the secondary education level ranks more, (Ranksum=1940.5, p<0.05). Other factors are gender female, being a resident of Kampala, age >=30years and having stayed in the clinic for more than 3years although these findings are not statistically significant (p>0.05). Using a likert scale the inter personal skills of the health workers at the ISS Clinic were rated highly averaging with a score of 4.68/5, the patients opinion on the health providers work was also rated quite highly at 4.52/5, the patients opinion about visiting the clinic was also quite good with the patients rating the clinic at 4.87/5, and the patients opinion about the clinic as a facility was also very good with a score of 4.82/5.

Conclusion The striking but not shocking finding is that much as the general perception that most public health facilities are not offering a good service, the ISS Clinic stands out with an exemplary service delivery which goes beyond the expectations of most patients who attend this clinic.