<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Health-care satisfaction levels dip
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>74% polled rate service standards as excellent or good - down 2 points </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Hui Chieh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
ST PHOTO: TAN SUAN ANN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
View more photos
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PATIENTS were slightly less satisfied with the service standards of health institutions last year than in the previous year, a Health Ministry-commissioned survey has found.
The annual survey found that 74 per cent of patients rated the public hospitals, national specialist centres and polyclinics as excellent or good last year, down from the 76 per cent who said the same the year before.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>How the hospitals fared
Alexandra Hospital: >83 per cent of patients rated it good or excellent
KK Women's and Children's Hospital: 75 per cent
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It is the first time satisfaction levels have taken a dip since the survey became an annual affair in 2005, when 69 per cent of patients were pleased.
The Health Ministry said the dip squared with the overall drop in customer satisfaction for the service industry as a whole; it cited a separate study by Singapore Management University last month which found that customer satisfaction had fallen across various sectors, from finance to health care.
This trend 'probably reflects the public mood at a time of economic recession', the Ministry said.
Its survey involved interviewing more than 9,300 patients between last September and December, at the start of the economic downturn.
Looking at the patient satisfaction levels of the six hospitals individually, only two - Alexandra Hospital (AH) and National University Hospital (NUH) - did not see scores lower than in 2007.
AH maintained its performance, keeping 83 per cent of its patients happy with its service last year, like in 2007, while NUH raised its proportion of happy patients from 2007's 68 per cent to last year's 69 per cent.
AH's performance kept it at the No. 1 spot for the fifth year running. It has been ranked first since 2004, when the survey was done using a different method.
The hospital makes it a point to hire people who 'care about patients as human beings', and constantly reminds them to treat patients like family, said its chief executive officer Liak Teng Lit.
The experience 54-year-old Andrew Balasingam had when he was hospitalised for a toe amputation this year bears out this people-oriented philosophy.
He said: 'The nurses, especially those from India and the Philippines, really make you feel at home.
'They were very caring and came by every few hours to ask me how I was feeling. Some came after their shift to say 'Goodbye Andrew, get well soon'.'
NUH's one-percentage-point improvement lifted it from the bottom spot in 2007 to tie with Singapore General Hospital in third place, behind KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
NUH has in the past year battled its problem of long waiting times, a result of a 17 per cent jump in the number of patients over the past four years.
It has cut patients' waiting time by streamlining its work flow and converting some in-patient treatments into outpatient ones; it also reconfigured its premises to add more than 90 beds last year.
NUH's chief executive Joe Sim said he was proud of his staff, whose concerted efforts have raised patient satisfaction despite the increased workload.
Changi General Hospital (CGH) rounded off the list of six hospitals in the bottom spot, with 66 per cent of its patients pleased with its service.
Its spokesman said CGH was 'concerned' over its ranking and would heed feedback and implement improvements.
Of the 17 polyclinics assessed last year, Bedok came out tops, with 85 per cent of patients pleased with it, and Geylang last, with 63 per cent.
SingHealth Polyclinics, which runs both clinics, said the Geylang centre had borne the brunt of the extra workload of handling patients from the Marine Parade Polyclinic, which has been closed for renovations.
Clementi Polyclinic, while beating the Geylang one, chalked up the highest proportion of patients - 9 per cent - who rated its service as poor or very poor.
National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, which runs it, said this could have been due to the high patient load, despite it being NHG's smallest clinic, resulting in longer waiting times.
It will be renovated to expand its service areas at the end of this year. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>74% polled rate service standards as excellent or good - down 2 points </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Hui Chieh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
ST PHOTO: TAN SUAN ANN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PATIENTS were slightly less satisfied with the service standards of health institutions last year than in the previous year, a Health Ministry-commissioned survey has found.
The annual survey found that 74 per cent of patients rated the public hospitals, national specialist centres and polyclinics as excellent or good last year, down from the 76 per cent who said the same the year before.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>How the hospitals fared
Alexandra Hospital: >83 per cent of patients rated it good or excellent
KK Women's and Children's Hospital: 75 per cent
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It is the first time satisfaction levels have taken a dip since the survey became an annual affair in 2005, when 69 per cent of patients were pleased.
The Health Ministry said the dip squared with the overall drop in customer satisfaction for the service industry as a whole; it cited a separate study by Singapore Management University last month which found that customer satisfaction had fallen across various sectors, from finance to health care.
This trend 'probably reflects the public mood at a time of economic recession', the Ministry said.
Its survey involved interviewing more than 9,300 patients between last September and December, at the start of the economic downturn.
Looking at the patient satisfaction levels of the six hospitals individually, only two - Alexandra Hospital (AH) and National University Hospital (NUH) - did not see scores lower than in 2007.
AH maintained its performance, keeping 83 per cent of its patients happy with its service last year, like in 2007, while NUH raised its proportion of happy patients from 2007's 68 per cent to last year's 69 per cent.
AH's performance kept it at the No. 1 spot for the fifth year running. It has been ranked first since 2004, when the survey was done using a different method.
The hospital makes it a point to hire people who 'care about patients as human beings', and constantly reminds them to treat patients like family, said its chief executive officer Liak Teng Lit.
The experience 54-year-old Andrew Balasingam had when he was hospitalised for a toe amputation this year bears out this people-oriented philosophy.
He said: 'The nurses, especially those from India and the Philippines, really make you feel at home.
'They were very caring and came by every few hours to ask me how I was feeling. Some came after their shift to say 'Goodbye Andrew, get well soon'.'
NUH's one-percentage-point improvement lifted it from the bottom spot in 2007 to tie with Singapore General Hospital in third place, behind KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
NUH has in the past year battled its problem of long waiting times, a result of a 17 per cent jump in the number of patients over the past four years.
It has cut patients' waiting time by streamlining its work flow and converting some in-patient treatments into outpatient ones; it also reconfigured its premises to add more than 90 beds last year.
NUH's chief executive Joe Sim said he was proud of his staff, whose concerted efforts have raised patient satisfaction despite the increased workload.
Changi General Hospital (CGH) rounded off the list of six hospitals in the bottom spot, with 66 per cent of its patients pleased with its service.
Its spokesman said CGH was 'concerned' over its ranking and would heed feedback and implement improvements.
Of the 17 polyclinics assessed last year, Bedok came out tops, with 85 per cent of patients pleased with it, and Geylang last, with 63 per cent.
SingHealth Polyclinics, which runs both clinics, said the Geylang centre had borne the brunt of the extra workload of handling patients from the Marine Parade Polyclinic, which has been closed for renovations.
Clementi Polyclinic, while beating the Geylang one, chalked up the highest proportion of patients - 9 per cent - who rated its service as poor or very poor.
National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, which runs it, said this could have been due to the high patient load, despite it being NHG's smallest clinic, resulting in longer waiting times.
It will be renovated to expand its service areas at the end of this year. [email protected]
