• Ahmad S Almutairi, Emmanuel F Osagiede, Sultan K Alenazi, Abdulaziz A Almutairi, Yasir S Alnawmasi, Ahmed A Aljunaydili, Majed S Alharbi, and Abdulaziz S Alshahrani.
• From the Department of Community and Public Health (Almutairi); from the Department of Population Health Management (Osagiede, Alharbi); from the Department of Therapeutic Services (Alenazi); from the Department of Hospitals Affairs (Almutairi); from the Department of Patient Experience (Alnawmasi, Aljunaydili), Buraydah, from the Outpatient Department (Alshahrani), Saudi Royal Clinics, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and from the Department of Community Medicine (Osagiede), Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Aug 1; 45 (8): 826833826-833.

ObjectivesTo assess the level of satisfaction expressed for services rendered in the public health sector to clients who were seen at outpatient departments (OPDs) and primary healthcare (PHC) facilities in Al-Qassim Health Cluster in Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis study used a comparative cross-sectional study design, and data were obtained as secondary data from The Patient's Experience Platform. Data analysis was carried out using Stata (version 16), and the significance level was 5%.ResultsIn comparing the mean satisfaction in 9 domains, statistically significantly higher means for the PHC facilities than the OPDs were seen across 7 domains: patients navigating health facilities (p=0.008), nursing services (p<0.001), physicians' services (p=0.004), radiological services (p<0.001), personal issues (p=0.003), the pharmacy (p=0.005), and general experience (p=0.036).ConclusionThis study's findings are significant. They indicate that client satisfaction with services at PHC facilities was significantly higher than with services at hospital OPDs in Al-Qassim region. This underscores the need to improve the quality of services provided at OPDs to bring them to the same level as those provided by PHC facilities. Policymakers and implementers should, therefore, sustain efforts to make OPDs and PHC facilities more desirable for clients.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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