Patient satisfaction: a valid index of quality of care in a psychiatric service

Objective: To assess patients', clinicians' and referrers' satisfaction with care in newly referred psychiatric patients and to compare these with standard quality indicators such as waiting times used by the service. Method: A random sample of all new adult psychiatric patients presenting over a 4-month period in 2 successive years to an inner-city psychiatric service was assessed. Results: One hundred and thirteen (68%) of 167 randomly selected patients were seen. Independent evidence of service performance showed that patient satisfaction, but not clinician or referrer satisfaction, was a more accurate indicator of quality of carl than standard indicators. Conclusion: Simple ratings of patient satisfaction alone may be useful indicators of quality of psychiatric care.