Patient satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic in an emergency department

Introduction and objective: The large number of emergency department (ED) visits increases the workload of caretakers with a decrease in patient satisfaction. We have introduced numerous methods to counteract this in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients were admitted to the ED with complaints otherwise dealt with in primary care, additionally 15% of our staff was delegated to the Coronavirus Centre in April and May, 2020. Our aim was to assess the extent of workload and the effect of the pandemic on patient satisfaction affected by the measures introduced in 2019. Method: A longitudinal, quantitative, descriptive, questionnaire-based survey and file review was carried out at the University Emergency Department in the University of Pecs, Clinical Centre, involving the period between April 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020 (n = 999). 354 files were analyzed in the first period of the survey, 645 in the second one, along with the use of admission numbers. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using independent sample T-test and Mann-Whitney test (p<0.05). Results: In the first months of the survey, 51% of the patients and relatives rated positive the ED of the University of Pecs, while this increased to 99% by November 2019. Following the compulsory trainings and institutional restructuring, the opinion improved on nursing staff (Z = -2.25, p = 0.024), on physicians (Z = -2.25, p = 0.024) and on the department (Z = -2.24, p = 0.025). During the COVID-19 pandemic, patient satisfaction decreased: the attitude of staff (Z = -4.16, p<0.001) and the quality of service (Z = -3.88, p<0.001) was thought to be impaired. Conclusion: The positive effect of the introduced actions can be measured via patient satisfaction. We have demonstrated that the extra workload had a negative effect on patient satisfaction.