GENERAL PERCEPTION ON QUALITY DELIVERY OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES IN GENERAL HOSPITAL KUMO

Abstract

The study is to ascertain the general perception of people on quality delivery of healthcare
services in general hospital Kumo Akko LGA, with a view to finding out the changes that are
happening with the health sector for proper planning and improvement. The specific objectives
are to examine the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the respondents, to assess
the client perception on quality services at the outpatient clinics in Kumo General Hospital and
to examine the role of hospital management board in provision of quality healthcare services in
Kumo general hospital. Both qualitative and quantitative data were utilised. Data were generated
primarily through questionnaire’s and revalidated the data using Nominal Group Technique.
400 respondents were randomly selected. The questionnaire was designed in a five Likert scale
with 1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4=agree and 5= strongly agree. The sociodemographic
findings show that majority of the clients were females who had at least a
secondary education. The Service quality was assessed using the five SERVQUAL dimensions
of Tangibles, Reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and an additional dimension of
affordability and accessibility. Majority (60.7%) of respondents agreed that the clinic they were
attending was clean. Similarly, majority (59.8%) of respondents agreed that the clinic had a
comfortable environment. It can be concluded that clients perceived the service quality at the
outpatient’s clinic to be good. The highest score was recorded in the assurance domain while the
lowest score was recorded in the responsive domain. The study recommended that Government
Health facilities must have an awesome physical environment such as water, sitting facilities,
waste disposal, and toilet facilities among others. This will encourage more people to access the
service and make the patients to feel more comfortable.