[Undelayable visits in primary care. Description and identification of possible areas for improvement].

OBJECTIVE

To identify the main areas of improvements in the care process of undelayable consultations in Primary Care Health Centre of Miralbueno (Zaragoza).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study using a telephone questionnaire. LOCATION/SETTING: Urban Health Centre with a rural annexe.

PARTICIPANTS

A representative sample of 238 users was selected from the total undelayable consultations made (6884 visits) during 2009. The response rate was 35%, with 83 surveys finally being made.

MEASUREMENTS

Telephone surveys based on a valid questionnaire called SERVQUAL. The user responses were assessed by professional using improvement cards.

RESULTS

The user's survey gave mean satisfaction scores above 3.50 out of 5. The best rated items were: the treatment by medical staff, information received and the degree of problem solving. Improvement proposals made by professionals were related to telephone access, and the paediatric opening hours for continuous treatment and the waiting time to be seen.

CONCLUSIONS

The user survey detected a high level of overall satisfaction. But valued aspects were: the difficulty in telephone access, the lack of paediatric visits availability and the waiting times. The Health Centre professionals offered suggestions to improve the areas rated worst by users.