What do you think of us? Evaluating patient knowledge of and satisfaction with a psychiatric outpatient service.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to measure patient satisfaction with the care they were receiving; examine patients' knowledge of the psychiatric services in general; and identify variables associated with satisfaction.


METHODS
Patients attending the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital psychiatric outpatient clinics over a 13-week period, and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital clozapine clinic over a 4-week period and were invited to complete the Barker Scale of Patients' Views Towards Care Received From Psychiatrists.


RESULTS
One-hundred and ninety-two patients were invited to participate and there was a response rate of 94%. Eighty-six percent of respondents were satisfied with their care; 92% stated psychiatrists were caring towards them; 85% that psychiatrists know what they are doing; 84% that their illness was explained by their psychiatrist; and 65% that psychiatric care is improving; but 65% stated that psychiatric services are still not good enough. Eighty-six percent were, or had been, in receipt of a psychological treatment. On multi-variable analysis, satisfaction was associated with the view that doctors explained treatment clearly, the view that doctors do not rely excessively on medication, and having been visited by a community mental health nurse.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients attending psychiatry outpatient services reported a high degree of satisfaction with the treatment they were receiving, although there were discrepancies between satisfaction with their own specific service and with psychiatric services in general.
Department of Adult Psychiatry, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, University College Dublin, 62/63 Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D055815:Young Adult