STUDENT'S SATISFACTION WITH THE HEALTHCARE SERVICES RECEIVED AT JAJA CLINIC UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

The Jaja clinic was established at the inception of the University of Ibadan in 1948 to preside healthcare services to the University community. Since then, the level of satisfaction of students who use the services has not been investigated. This study therefore assessed students' satisfaction with healthcare services provided at the clinic. The study adopted cross-sectional design Systematic random sampling technique was used in selecting 435 students who attended the clinic for healthcare services between 21st February and 30th March 2008. A validated semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and Chi- square statistics. There were more males (59.3%) than females (40.7%); their mean age was 23.3 +-4.2 years Majority of the respondents (93.6%) reported that they fell sick at least once during the 2006/2007 academic session. Of this number 68.5% visited Jaja clinic for medical care while 31.5% sought medical help elsewhere some 46.9% of the respondents were satisfied with the patient-staff relationship Ibis consisted of 67.6% males and 33.4% females. Fifty-six percent received satisfactory answers to the questions they asked their physicians; of this number 62.7% were males and 37.3% females The overall mean score for satisfaction of services received by the respondents was 3.3 ±1.9 using a 7 point scale Males were more satisfied (63.5%) than females (36.5%) (p< 0.05) while the older respondents were more satisfied than the younger ones (p < 0.05). Slightly more than half (51.0%) did not gel all their prescribed drugs from the clinic. Of this number. 61.8% were males while 38.2% were females More males (53.0%) than females (44.0%) were satisfied with their physician's diagnosis of their conditions (p < 0.05). Majority (75.0%) of the respondents were not informed about the nature of the laboratory lest they were made to undergo Overall 68 7% of the respondents were not satisfied with laboratory test results. A majority (92.0%) of the respondents stated that there is need for improvement in the overall quality of care Seventy-six percent wanted some improvement in the type of facilities available in the In-Patient ward The mean waiting time before patients were attended to by their physician was 34.1minutes with a median of 30 +- 38.9 minutes. Majority (54%) reported that their medical needs were not met. Fifty-seven percent were so dissatisfied that they claimed they would not, wan, to visit Jaja clinic again for medical care Supply of drugs (40.0%) and employment of more and qualified staff (20.2%) topped the list of suggestions made by the respondents for improvement of the quality of care provided at the clinic. Majority of the students who visited Jaja clinic were not satisfied with the services received Health education strategies such as training, patient education, provision of adequate facilities and improvement in the availability of drugs are needed to ameliorate the situation.