Abstract:
Healthcare services are public basic needs and no nation can afford to overlook it. Public
at large expects the healthcare organizations to provide healthcare
services effectively
and at affordable cost. The absence of healthcare facilities not only results in diseases and
deformities but also economic, social and political deterioration which prevent
individuals from realizing their full potential. Hospitals should anchor their services
around the parameters that determine the quality of healthcare services. So it is
imperative to understand Ihe functions and the dimensions that compose the entire service
structure of a hospital. These functions and dimensions can be used as standards for
smooth provision of service and quality assurance.
The present study contains in-depth analysis of all the events occurring in a public sector
teaching hospital, its organization, and structure; by conducting detailed interviews and
discussion with the major stakeholders and direct observation of the operations of the
same hospital. The study has threefold purposes. Firstly, it seeks to substantiate the
performance and service quality perceived by the general public vis4-vi$ the factual
performance and service quality of public sector hospitals. Secondly, it differentiates a
teaching hospital from a non teaching hospital in terms of their entire composition, scope
and quality of service. Thirdly, it develops a model that can assess the quality of service
of a teaching hospital, The model carries dimensions and elements of curing, caring and
teaching
A qualitative-cum-quantitative approach with multiple data collection mechanisms like
observation, discussions and interviews, questionnaire administration and study of
records was adopted. Mayo Hospital Lahore affiliated with King Edward MedicalV
University, the largest public sector teaching hospital in Pakistan, was chosen as
population for the given study. All the departments providing teaching and clinical
services were studied. Satisfaction of patients, employees and medical students was
assessed through questionnaire administration followed by in-depth interviews. Public
perception of performance of and service quality in public sector hospitals was assessed
through questionnaire and interviews. Data was organized, descriptive statistics including
percentages and graphic presentations were applied. Qualitative data was validated with
quantitative data and vice versa.
The performance and service quality of public sector teaching hospital were found far
better than the general view of the community. The study also showed that a leaching
hospital is superior to a non teaching hospital in terms of delivering quality treatment to
patients. A model with three distinct dimensions including teaching, curing and caring
with their respective elements is developed that can assess the quality of services
delivered by a teaching hospital.