Abstract
Patient satisfaction is best explained or defined as one’s own personal cognitive evaluation of
and/or emotional reaction to, their healthcare experience; it is an effective, important and
commonly used tool for measuring quality of healthcare. Patient satisfaction is thus a very
effective indicator to measure the success of healthcare provided by doctors and healthcare
facilities.
Quality in healthcare is measured using an important and common indicator, namely patient
satisfaction. The effects of patient satisfaction can be seen in clinical outcomes, patient
retention, as well as medical malpractice claims. To determine the success of doctors in
clinics and hospitals, patient satisfaction surveys are considered an important tool in this
measurement. Measuring patient satisfaction may lead to the enhancement of daily efficiency
and effectiveness of practice operations, as well as increase profitability at the University of
Johannesburg (UJ) Homoeopathy Health Centre. Apart from the mini-surveys conducted
each semester on service delivery by the clinic manager, the last in-depth survey conducted
on patient satisfaction with homoeopathic treat at this facility was in 2004, and the results
showed the positive experiences to be: affordability of the clinic; quality of the physical
exam; friendliness and approachability of the senior homoeopathy students; and the high
level of satisfaction regarding their treatment plan. The areas of dissatisfaction were: the
clinic’s accessibility; accuracy of diagnosis; and the explanation of their medical condition as
well as the explanation of the homoeopathic case taking procedure. The study recommended
that follow-up studies be conducted to monitor progress regarding patient education in
homoeopathy and the perceived skills of the senior homoeopathic students.
The aim of the study was to assess patient satisfaction and gather data on patient behaviour
at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Homoeopathy Health Centre, as an approach to
improve the quality of healthcare and service delivery at this facility. This also allowed for
the assessment of the level of healthcare received by the community.
A sample group of 114 patients who attended the UJ Homoeopathy Health Centre from
January 2016 to June 2016 were selected to participate in the study. The patients’ satisfaction
regarding the healthcare received at the UJ Homoeopathy Health Centre was determined by
means of a fourteen-item questionnaire. Written permission was requested from the Head of
the Department (HOD) of Homoeopathy to allow access to the patient files in the UJ
Homoeopathy Health Centre. Once permission was received, all demographic and contact
information was gathered from the selected patient files, which met the inclusion and
exclusion criteria. The researcher contacted each person telephonically, in a private room at
the UJ Homoeopathy Health Centre, where verbal consent to participate in the study and to
be voice recorded was obtained before a 10-minute interview took place. All answers were
recorded directly onto the questionnaire during the telephonic interview. The study took place
over 14 days allowing a total of 11 patients to be called during the hours of 9am to 5pm.
Once the questionnaire was completed, it was filed and stored in a lockable cabinet in a...