External urology consultation quality at a third-level public hospital in Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: Patient satisfaction is the degree of conformity with the healthcare they receive. It is real evidence and one of the most important factors in determining the effectiveness and quality of healthcare systems.

Objective: To identify the quality of care in the Urology outpatient department of a third-level hospital.

Materials and methods: The NHS (National Health Service) 2018 quality of care questionnaire with 11 sections, 133 items, and duration of approximately 25min was randomly administered to 250 patients attending Urology outpatients at a third-level public hospital in Mexico.

Results: According to responses, 92% (n=230) knew the reason for the consultation. 64.8% (n=162) had a consultation with the same physician by whom they were initially seen. The longest reported hospital wait time before being seen was more than 2h in 29.6% (n=74). As for consultation time, 212 patients responded and the duration was 11-20min in 52.8% (n=112). Finally, 33.2% (n=83) considered the quality of service to be good.

Conclusions: The use of the NHS 2018 survey in the Urology service at a third-level public hospital in Mexico is feasible, since we managed to obtain a significant and continuous improvement in all its indicators which is satisfactory for all.

Keywords: Calidad asistencial; Clinical research; Consulta externa hospital; Hospital outpatient clinic; Investigación clínica; National Health Service (NHP); National Health Service (NHS); Quality of care; Urologia; Urology.