| Abstract [eng] |
In primary care, the assessment of the quality of services is particularly important as it is fundamental contact between the patient and the health service. Service quality is evaluated from two different perspectives: of the primary care team members and of the patients. This is important in order to identify key gaps in the quality of primary care services, not only from the patients' perspective, but also from the perspective of the healthcare professionals providing the services, thus allowing for improvements in healthcare services. The aim of the study is to assess the quality of services provided in primary care from the perspective of team members and patients. Objectives of the study: 1. To assess patients' perceptions of their expectations and experiences of the quality of primary care services according to the different quality dimensions. 2. To assess the perspectives of primary care professionals towards the quality of services provided. 3. To compare the perceptions of primary care team members and patients on the quality of services. Methods: A quantitative study using an anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted. An anonymous survey was conducted, and an adapted Service Quality Questionnaire (SERVQUAL) was used to assess service quality. 378 patients of one primary health care institution in Vilnius participated in the study. In addition, 208 professionals working in the primary health care services of this institution were interviewed. Statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS 23.0 and MS Excel. Results: The results showed that patients' expectations of service quality were significantly higher than actual experience (p<0.001). Across all dimensions of service quality assessed, the experienced service quality was generally lower than patients' expectations (p<0.001). The highest scores for team members were assurance (4.490±0.636) and empathy (4.434±0.751), accurate and timely service delivery (4.563±0.595) and staff being polite and respectful to the patient (4.529±0.589). Compared to patients, team members were more critical of the reliability of services (gap 0.146±1.411), the use of material resources (gap 0.024±1.306) and responsiveness (gap 0.148±1.363). Negative differences between patients' and primary care providers' ratings were found in the dimensions of assurance (-0.155±1.010) and empathy (-0.270±1.160). Conclusions: 1. The quality of primary care services experienced by patients does not meet their expectations, especially in the areas of assurance, responsibility, efficiency of consultations and punctuality. 2. Team members generally have a positive perception of the quality of services, but acknowledge difficulties related to insufficient staff effort to address patients' problems, untimely service delivery and shortcomings in the organization of services. 3. Patients score more favorably than health professionals on the dimensions of quality of service in terms of tangible, reliability and responsiveness, but score lower than team members in some aspects of these areas. Team members score higher than patients in the areas of assurance and empathy. It can be assumed that both groups are not fully satisfied with the quality of services. Keywords: service quality, primary care, patients' perspective, team members' perspective, quality assessment. |
