Developing a quality service charter for the radiology department.

Abstract

This research was designed to gather consumers' opinions together with providers' views regarding the services provided by the Radiology Department. Obtaining such information is the first step towards the development of a Quality Service Charter. A Quality Service Charter is an organisation's written commitment of a quality service to its customers. Quality Service Charters thus ensure that a culture of public accountability is in place in the organisation. As yet, no such charter for the Radiology Department at St. Luke's Hospital, Malta, exists. This study was conducted using a patient satisfaction survey, personal interviews with referring clinicians, a focus group interview with Radiology Department staff, and interviews with the manager and the director of the department. The results demonstrated that patients are generally highly satisfied with the services provided by the department, except for the issues of waiting time and waiting lists. Referring clinicians tend to be less satisfied, the main reason given being the inadequate quality of reporting. Radiology Department staff acknowledge that problems with customers exist but do not feel empowered to introduce any effective changes to improve the service quality. These results are comparable to similar findings presented in the literature review. The main recommendations based on the findings propose organisational changes that need to be introduced in the department before the implementation of a Quality Service Charter.