A survey of patient satisfaction with obstetric anaesthesia service in Tuen Mun hospital, Hong Kong

Abstract

Patient satisfaction is an important healthcare performance indicator that has come to the forefront in recent years. Although patient satisfaction surveys have been performed assessing various medical services, there is a lack of survey evaluating patient satisfaction towards the anaesthesia services in Hong Kong. In this study, we looked into the perioperative concerns and patient satisfaction in a group of obstetric patients undergoing anaesthesia for caesarean section (CS) in Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH), which is a large regional hospital in Hong Kong with more than 5500 deliveries per year. Between June 2017 and May 2018, 263 Chinese obstetric patients undergoing elective or emergency CS were recruited into the survey. The median of the satisfaction mark obtained was 139 out of 190. Patients were less satisfied in the aspect of “fear” and “discomfort”, which were correlated with severe postoperative pain, general anaesthesia and emergent CS. Improvement in pain management program and alleviating fear and discomfort were recommended. Follow-up survey is recommended to assess the effectiveness of improvement measures. Further patient satisfaction survey can be considered in other patient groups.