Rethinking patient satisfaction: patient experiences of an open access flexible sigmoidoscopy service

The high morbidity and mortality rates for cole-rectal cancer in Teesside, UK, have led to the initiation of an open access service in two local Natio nal Health Service Trust hospitals. This paper reports the results of a pil ot patient satisfaction study of the service using a combination of partici pant-observation, in-depth interviews and questionnaire methods. Although o ffering a standardised service, ethnographic study revealed interesting dif ferences in practice and follow-up procedures between the two hospitals. Pa tients, both verbally and on paper, expressed high levels of satisfaction w ith the services offered at both hospitals, yet in-depth, qualitative resea rch revealed a more complex picture. The evidence from this research will b e used to argue that standard consumer satisfaction questionnaires of healt h provision are inadequate indicators of patients' experience of health car e delivery. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.