[Improvements in the general services of a hospital as the result of patients surveys].
OBJECTIVE
The progressive decrease in the level of satisfaction expressed by our patients with respect to the Hospital's Cooking and Cleaning Services highlighted the need to implement a series of measures in order to identify areas for improvement and increase the satisfaction of our patients with those services.


METHODS
We reviewed the scores of patients satisfaction surveys in recent years and analysed the trends. Later, we identified the worse rated aspects, investigated the possible causes of the decrease in scores and proposed some solutions. After a feasibility analysis, we established a plan of action and implemented the accepted improvements. Finally, with the surveys of 2008 and 2009, we evaluated whether we had achieved the expected results in our patients' opinion.


RESULTS
Improvement in patient satisfaction in most of the items related to the Cooking Service: increased by 6% and 4.2%, respectively in the quantity and variety variables, and 0.5% in quality. On the other hand, the increase in Cleaning Services satisfaction was minimal, 0.9% at best.


CONCLUSIONS
Obtaining direct opinions of patients can be useful when our purpose is to implement changes. Paying greater attention to particular aspects has enabled us to improve our patients' satisfaction, not only with general services but also with the overall care they received during the hospital stay.
Castelo-Zas
S
S
Unidad de Calidad, Hospital de Mendaro, Guipúzcoa, España. susana.castelozas@osakidetza.net
Valenciano-González
A
A
Taboada-Gómez
J
J
Bastida-Remetería
R
R
D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013030:Spain