Evaluation of Health Services at Albuluk Paediatrics Hospital, Omdurman, Khartoum State, Sudan, (June –December 2018)

Abstract

Background: High expectations from a health provider is a positive indicator of his reputation in the society and is very important for attracting patients, whereas low expectation deters patients from taking timely medical help, thus negatively affecting themselves as well as the negative impact on the medical care provider . Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the availability of different paediatrics health services in different departments of Albuluk paediatrics hospital and to measure the level of co-patient's satisfaction. Methods: The study was a descriptive, cross-sectional, hospital based study by using check list for medical manager, structured questionnaire for co- patients and general observations by researcher. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 statistical method. The questionnaires were distributed amongst 350 co-patients to find out whether they are satisfied with the health care provide at different departments. Results:. This study proved that Albuluk paediatrics hospital provided 75% of the availability of basic health activities including weighing the child, plotting weight on graph, taking the temperature, assessing vaccination status of the child. Concerning diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition vitamin A, zinc, and iron supplementation, deworming in addition to following integrated management childhood illnesses guidelines (IMCI) the hospital achieved 80%. The availability of general health services was 87.5% which include vaccination, growth monitoring, free of charge curative care services for children of under 5 years of age, diagnosis and treatment of non- communicable diseases specifically diabetes and renal diseases, rapid laboratory diagnostic testing, blood grouping and blood transfusion services. Regarding co-patients satisfaction, the overall satisfaction was 61.1% and the level of dissatisfaction with health services was 38.9%.The high satisfaction areas were : patient left safe at night96.2% and nurses were always available in need 93.7%. High dissatisfaction areas were: toilets were always available and clean 59.6% , the ward was ventilated 52% and counseling about child’s illness by hospital staff 50.3%. Conclusion: The diagnostic and treatment health services provided at Albuluk Paediatrics hospital was 80% while the availability of basic health activities was 75% when the general health services availability at the hospital was 87.5%.The overall satisfaction of co-patients was 61.1% and the level of dissatisfaction with health services was 38.9%.