PATIENT SATISFACTION AT HEALTH CENTERS IN TRINIDAD-AND-TOBAGO

The aim of this paper is to identify background characteristics of hea lth centre users in Trinidad and Tobago and their perceptions of the s ervices provided. Multi-staged sampling was used to select 1,500 healt h centre users throughout the country. Data were obtained using struct ured interviews conducted on regular clinic days. Results show that th ere is an overwhelmingly large percentage of unemployed persons (80.4% ) and women (75.9%) among the users of health centres. The elderly is well represented, with 25.4 percent of the sample being over 60 years of age. Also, occupational status of family wage earners and education al attainment levels of respondents reflect a disproportionately highe r number from lower socio-economic groupings among health centre users . On the other hand, proportions of different ethnic and religious gro ups among the respondents bear a striking similarity to the general po pulation of Trinidad and Tobago. Respondents appear to be generally sa tisfied with the services of the health centres. When the categories f or 'satisfied' and 'very satisfied' were combined, results show that 7 3.0% of respondents were satisfied with the comfort of the health cent re, 81.7% with the ease and convenience of getting to the health centr e and 67.4% with the medical care received at the health centre. Accor ding to respondents' opinions, the services in greatest need of improv ement are the pharmacy and doctor services, especially through reducin g the long waiting period. When the doctors, nurses and pharmacists we re compared with respect to 'courtesy and consideration', 'Skills and Competence' and 'advice provided', results show that the generally hig h levels of satisfaction are remarkably similar in all three cases.