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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) Board today (June 30) discussed and endorsed the first HA-wide Patient Satisfaction Survey (PSS) report. The HA will study the findings and recommendations in detail, so as to shape and plan service directions and improvement measures to continuously enhance health-care quality in public hospitals.
The HA commissioned the School of Public Health and Primary Care of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2009 to conduct the survey through open tender. The survey aims at examining inpatients' experiences in public hospitals under the HA. Some 5 000 patients discharged from 25 acute and extended care hospitals in all seven HA clusters were interviewed by telephone about their recent experiences as inpatients and satisfaction with the public health-care services from admission to discharge.
The HA Chairman, Mr Anthony Wu, expressed his gratitude to the patients who took the time to participate in the first large-scale survey using a systemic approach to gauge patients' views in Hong Kong.
"We thank the PSS Task Force, comprising representatives from hospital clusters and patient groups. They have worked diligently to steer and prepare for the implementation of the large-scale survey, which helps us to design future HA policy and improve the quality of patient care," said Mr Wu.
Mr Wu remarked that he was grateful to all the staff for their contribution. "This survey serves as a testimony to the exceptional performance, dedication and professionalism of our colleagues," he said.
At today's HA Board meeting, the survey's principal investigator, Professor Yeoh Eng-kiong, and the external consultant, Professor Angela Coulter, reported on the survey design, data collection process, findings and recommendations. The survey sets the benchmark and reference to guide the HA to prioritise and improve its services in the future.
"The survey results are encouraging. Eighty per cent of patients rated their care as excellent, very good or good. Meanwhile, almost 90 per cent of patients showed they have confidence and trust in doctors and nurses," remarked HA Chief Executive Dr Leung Pak-yin.
In addition, the results reflected that there was still room for improvement in some areas, such as food quality and choice for patients, communication with patients and their families, and information on discharge and care at home. In fact, some of the areas identified by the survey are already being addressed by the HA, such as through introduction of the Integrated Discharge Support Programme and setting up the Patient Advisory Committee.
"This survey provided important insight for HA executives and health-care professionals on patient care, and this would facilitate the development of an improvement action plan," added Dr Leung.
The Patient Satisfaction Survey report has been posted on the HA homepage (www.ha.org.hk) under the "Special Reports" section of "Corporate News".
Ends/Thursday, June 30, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:47
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