Press Releases

Patient Satisfaction Survey 2010

14 April 2011

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14 Apr 2011

1 Public hospitals, polyclinics and national specialty centres continued to score favorably with the public with a strong showing in overall satisfaction level. Nearly 8 out of 10 patients (76%) gave them the thumbs up, and as many (79%) said they would recommend the services of public healthcare institutions to others.

2 The polyclinics also improved on their previous performance in 2009. Overall satisfaction with the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP) edged up 7%-points to 80% and for the SingHealth polyclinics (SHP), by 6%-points to 75%. Recommendation level for NHGP was at its all time high at 80% and for SHP at 72%.

3 The Patient Satisfaction Survey 2010 results were confirmed by an independent survey company commissioned by the Ministry of Health. Nearly 12,000 patients participated in the survey from September to December 2010. This is the seventh MOH Patient Satisfaction Survey conducted to assess the level of patient satisfaction, compare performance among the healthcare institutions, and to gather suggestions for continual service improvement.

4 Patients were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with the institutions, and whether they would recommend the services to other patients. In particular, they were asked to assess their perceptions based on the following nine service quality attributes:

a. Facilities

b. Care coordination

c. Knowledge and skills of doctors

d. Care and concern shown by doctors

e. Knowledge and skills of nurses

f. Care and concern shown by nurses

g. Knowledge and skills of allied health professionals

h. Care and concern shown by allied health professionals

i. Clear explanation by staff on the procedures and care

Survey results

Overall Satisfaction Level

5 In the 2010 survey, 76% of the patients rated their overall satisfaction rating as “excellent” or “good” (Chart 1).

Chart 1 - Overall satisfaction of public healthcare institutions

Willingness To Recommend

6 Based on their experience, patients were asked if they would recommend the healthcare institutions to others. 79% of the patients said that they would “strongly recommend” or “likely to recommend” (Chart 2).

Chart 2 - Willingess to recommend public healthcare institutions

Comparison Among Public Healthcare Institutions

A) Public Hospitals

7 Among the hospitals; Khoo Teck Puat Hospital achieved the best results at 82%. This is followed by Tan Tock Seng Hospital which made the largest improvement of 8%-points to 78%. Alexandra Hospital’s performance of 77% was third (Table 1).

Table 1 (2020) - Overall satisfaction of public hospitals

Hospitals	Satisfaction Level (%)
	5 Excellent	4 Good	3 Satisfactory	2 Poor	1 Very Poor
KTPH	34	48	16	2	1
TTSH	28	50	19	2	0
AH	31	46	20	3	0
NUH	23	53	20	3	1
CGH	24	50	23	2	1
KKH	23	51	24	2	1
SGH	23	44	29	4	1
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

8 There were variations in satisfaction level as perceived by patients between emergency departments (A&E), specialist outpatient clinics (SOC) and wards as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 (2010) - Overall Satisfactioon at A&E, SOC and wards

Hospitals	Satisfaction Level (%)
	Overall	A&E	SOC	WARDS
KTPH	82	73	81	87
TTSH	78	72	77	81
AH	77	71	79	77
NUH	76	68	78	76
CGH	74	76	73	75
KKH	74	74	70	79
SGH	67	57	65	73
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

9 Four hospitals; Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (87%), KK Women's and Children's Hospital (83%), Tan Tock Seng Hospital (82%) and Alexandra Hospital (81%) had scored above 80% when their patients were asked if they would be willing to recommend their services to others (Table 3).

Table 3 (2010) - Willingness to recommend public hospitals

Hospitals	Recommendation Level (%)
	5 Strongly recommend	4 Likely to recommend	3 Neither recommend nor not recommend	2 Unlikely to recommend	1 Will not recommend
KTPH	42	45	11	2	1
KKH	37	46	14	2	1
TTSH	35	47	14	3	2
AH	35	46	14	3	2
SGH	35	41	19	3	2
NUH	31	45	17	4	3
CGH	22	51	20	4	3
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

(B) National Specialty Centres

10 Among the national specialty centres, Institute of Mental Health (94%), National Skin Centre (83%) and National Neuroscience Institute (78%) led the way with their patients expressing overall satisfaction (Table 4).

Table 4 (2010) - Overall satisfaction of national specialty centres

National Specialty Centres	Satisfaction Level (%)
	5 Excellent	4 Good	3 Satisfactory	2 Poor	1 Very Poor
IMH	43	51	6	0	0
NSC	27	56	15	0	1
NNI	28	50	19	2	1
NDC	25	52	20	2	1
NHC	30	44	23	3	0
SNEC	21	50	25	3	1
NCC	20	45	30	4	1
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

11 When asked whether they would recommend the national specialty centres to other patients, all centres achieved rating of 75% and better (Table 5).

Table 5 (2010) - Willingness to recommend national specialty centres

National Specialty Centres	Recommendation Level (%)
	5 Strongly recommend	4 Likely to recommend	3 Neither recommend nor not recommend	2 Unlikely to recommend	1 Will not recommend
NSC	38	50	10	2	1
IMH	39	47	10	3	1
SNEC	37	46	14	2	1
NHC	48	34	15	2	1
NNI	25	55	15	3	1
NDC	32	46	15	4	2
NCC	37	38	23	1	2
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

12 The top three institutions among the polyclinics were Clementi, Toa Payoh and Bukit Batok for overall satisfaction. More than 9 in 10 patients (91%) rated Clementi and Toa Payoh polyclinics highly (Table 6).

Table 6 (2010) - Overall satisfaction of polyclinics

Polyclinics	Satisfaction Level (%)
	5 Excellent	4 Good	3 Satisfactory	2 Poor	1 Very Poor
Clementi	41	50	9	0	0
Toa Payoh	38	53	8	1	0
Bt Batok	36	51	13	0	1
Sengkang	11	75	12	3	0
Jurong	26	59	15	0	0
Yishun	22	61	16	1	0
Outram	18	65	16	1	0
Hougang	37	44	16	2	0
Queenstown	22	59	17	1	1
Bedok	11	70	18	1	1
Marine Parade	22	56	21	1	0
Pasir Ris	25	50	22	3	0
Ang Mo Kio	17	55	26	2	0
Tampines	17	54	28	2	0
Choa Chu Kang	26	42	29	4	0
Woodlands	20	47	32	1	0
Bt Merah	13	52	35	0	0
Geylang	18	45	33	3	2
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

13 Sengkang was top for attribute on willingness to recommend, followed by Hougang and Bukit Batok as shown in Table 7.

Table 7 (2010) - Willingness to recommend polyclinics

Polyclinics	Recommendation Level (%)
	5 Strongly recommend	4 Likely to recommend	3 Neither recommend nor not recommend	2 Unlikely to recommend	1 Will not recommend
Sengkang	21	71	4	4	0
Hougang	39	50	10	2	0
Bt Batok	25	59	15	1	0
Ang Mo Kio	21	61	16	2	0
Choa Chu Kang	27	53	19	0	1
Jurong	17	63	18	2	0
Clementi	31	48	21	0	0
Toa Payoh	28	51	19	2	0
Bedok	14	64	19	2	1
Queenstown	14	63	17	5	1
Yishun	24	52	23	1	0
Outram	20	56	24	0	0
Pasir Ris	14	59	20	7	0
Woodlands	24	48	25	3	0
Marine Parade	18	53	25	4	0
Geylang	10	54	26	5	5
Tampines	10	53	33	3	1
Bt Merah	14	48	36	2	0
Note: Ranking was in order of aggregating “excellent” and “good” ratings

Conclusion

14 The strong showing by the public healthcare institutions in 2010 reflects the high level of public confidence in our public healthcare, despite higher customer expectations.

15 However, waiting times for admission, to consult a doctor and at pharmacy remain areas for further improvement. MOH and the healthcare institutions will work together to enhance operational management through computerization to improve on waiting times. We will also expand the number of healthcare professionals to meet patients’ demand for longer consultation and diverse needs.

16 The annual Patient Satisfaction Survey serves to encourage hospitals, national specialty centres and polyclinics to constantly improve their services and address the key concerns of patients.