What do you think of us? Evaluating patient knowledge of and satisfaction with a psychiatric outpatient service

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.

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.

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.

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.