Assessment of Patient’s Perceptions about Afternoon Clinics and Their Satisfaction at Suhar Hospital

Background: Afternoon clinics have gained popularity as an alternative to traditional daytime clinics, providing patients with the convenience of scheduling appointments and overcoming potential barriers such as work obligations or transportation issues. The development of Afternoon clinics aims to reduce the patient's negative experience from overcrowding in the clinics. Despite their increasing prevalence, there is limited research on the impact of afternoon clinics on patient satisfaction. Therefore, this study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by exploring patient perception and satisfaction with the afternoon clinics at Suhar Hospital.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey targeted outpatients attending both morning and evening clinics at Suhar Hospital during May-June 2023. A total of 100 patients aged 18 years participated in the study. At the clinics, patients were provided with a self-reported questionnaire during their visits. The benefits of afternoon appointments were evaluated using a likert scale. The results showed an excellent internal consistency of 0.957. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data.

Results: Of the 100 patients who submitted the survey, 58% were females, 73% aged 30 years and above, 53% held a university degree and 56% were employed. Most participants (67%) visited the hospital during the morning shift with 44% visiting endocrine clinics and 68% coming for follow-up visits. Overall, 83% of participants expressed satisfaction with health services received at current visits. The majority of afternoon appointments (67%) were first visit while the majority of moring appointments (85%) were follow-up visits. Patients who attended afternoon shift expressed a preference for future afternoon appointments while patients who attended morning shift preferred future morning appointments. Most respondents (91%) supported the hospital to continue offering afternoon clinics, 95% requested more specialities and 94% suggested providing afternoon appointments for specialized clinics at polyclinics level. As an overall preference, 47% of participants preferred afternoon slot, 15% preferred morning slot while 38% had no specific preference. Participants generally agreed on the advantages of afternoon shift with an average agreement level of 4.12 (SD=0.72) on a scale of 5 scores. However, participants had concerns about potential conflics with study or work schedules (Mean=3.98, SD=1.03), the flexibility of medical record staff to process their visit (Mean=4.03, SD=0.88) and the availability of transportation (Mean=4.04, SD=0.84).

Conclusion: Lunching afternoon clinics at Suhar Hospital was an initiative to meet patient needs and expectations. Patients reported an overall satisfaction of afternoon time in terms of reducing waiting times, offering flexible scheduling options and enhancing logistical arrangements. For further improvement of patient access to specialized care, afternoon clinics can be expanded to include more specialities at the level of the hospital as well as integrating the service into primary health care. This would allow for greater accessibility and convenience for patients seeking specialized care in various locations. By this study, the ministry of health (MOH) can further improve the quality of care provided to its population.