Three quarters of NI people 'satisfied' with health services

Just under 75% of people in Northern Ireland are satisfied with the level of service they are receiving from health and social services here.

The finding is just one figure in a new survey examining the public’s attitudes to health and social services in Northern Ireland.

Commissioned by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety as part of the consultation on the development of a new Regional Strategy for Health and Social Wellbeing, the purpose of the survey was to establish the level of public satisfaction with the HPSS and to identify those areas that the public would like to see changed or improved in the future.

Among the key findings were figures showing that there was a high satisfaction rate for primary care services ranging from 99% satisfaction for community pharmacy to 89% for social work services.

Across the primary care sector, the majority of users rated access, quality, staff and waiting times as either good or excellent with 93% of respondents very satisfied or satisfied with their GP/practice nurse services.

Secondary care satisfaction levels saw 88% of users of hospital outpatient clinics, 84% of inpatients and 71% of A&E satisfied with the service they received.

Eighty percent of respondents felt that health and social services in Northern Ireland should remain free and nearly six-out-of-10 people expressed a strong preference for receiving health care in their own home rather than going into hospital.

In welcoming the findings, a health department spokesperson said: “We are encouraged by the realistic but generally positive and helpful views expressed by those interviewed.

"It will build on the things that the public have told us are good about the services we provide and will address those areas where they have told us we must improve.”

Other figures in the survey showed that almost seven-out-of-10 respondents felt that health and social services in Northern Ireland treat all groups fairly, although older people were identified as a group that needed special attention.

With regard to future developments and improvements, 27% considered that reducing waiting lists was a key priority, with 12% identifying general service improvements as a key objective.

(MB)