Last update:
24-Jan-2024

OBJECTIVE The evaluation of the quality of Primary Health Care by the users of the services and professionals in two health centers (HC) of the Second Health Authority of Attica.

METHOD A primary quantitative study was conducted, with a convenience sample and a self-administered questionnaire adjusted to the needs of the study based on the SERVQUAL total quality methodology that assesses five dimensions: "Tangibles", "reliability", "responsiveness", "safety" and "empathy". Questionnaires were distributed by the main researcher in person. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23.0 was used for the statistical analysis. The questionnaire highlighted the five dimensions of the method and showed satisfactory reliability with Cronbach's alpha >0.7 for all dimensions.

RESULTS The mean total score given by the users of the services (SU) was 3.676±0.994 and by health professionals (HP) 3.906±0.939 (p=0.09). Both SU and HP rated the service quality as moderate to satisfactory in all its dimensions with values from 3.345–3.867 for SU and 3.744–4.107 for HP. HP rated higher the dimensions "tangibles", "responsiveness", "assurance" and "empathy" (p<0.05 for all dimensions) and rated similarly to SU only the dimension "reliability" (p=0.273). The dimensions "tangibles" and "reliability" received lower scores in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS The overall quality assessment was moderate to satisfactory. The results of the study highlighted the dimensions that need greater improvement with targeted interventions that mainly concern the dimensions of "tangible elements" and "reliability".

Key words: Health center, Quality of health services, Primary Health Care, SERVQUAL, Total Quality Management.