/library/oar/handle/123456789/63303 Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:15:51 GMT 2026-06-23T10:15:51Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/44637 Title: Patient expectations and perceptions of Malta's public and private hospital care service quality. Abstract: Internationally, the debate of who should define, and how one is to measure, interpret and improve the quality of health care services has been a polemical issue over the last few decades. Fuelled by the recent opening of two new private hospitals, Malta's hospital care service sector has been subject to a similar emphasis and debate on service quality. Managers of both private and public sectors have repeatedly emphasised the high level of quality offered to the patient by their organisations. This study was designed to fill an information gap in Malta. Through the employment of two questionnaires, the study attempted to measure patient expectations of the service quality of each sector, the perceived quality of actually provided hospital services, and the weighted importance given by the patient to the service quality sentinels (indicators) studied. These questionnaires drew their composition and design from the highly acclaimed and quoted SERVQUAL model and Donabedian's framework of hospital service quality. Hospital management input, piloting, and extensive literature review provided extra support for their suitability for Malta and to serve the purposes outlined. Results showed that expectations for delivered service quality of Malta's private sector is higher than the expected quality of the public hospital service for all quality sentinels studied. More in-depth analysis shows that patients see the main difference in the service product to be found in the quality of the augmented and not the core product, although the private sector was also considered as offering a better core product. Results also show that both sectors provide the patient with a service quality that exceeds the respective user's expectations, and thus each sector gives its patients a Total Customer Value of provided service which is over-and-above that expected. Results also indicate that both private and public hospital service users consider the quality of Professional and Technical Care and the Service Personalisation as the two most important factors of the service product, but give significantly different levels of importance to the Price factor being significantly higher for public hospital service users. It is likely that this factor would ultimately determine provider choice. Although the results elicited are valid, their interpretation is open to discussion and requires further research if the true reasons behind the trends described are to be found. Description: M.SC.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT. Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/44637 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/44634 Title: Measuring prospective consumers' expectations with maternity care services. Abstract: When it comes to maternity care services, this study reveals how the actual act of purchasing encompasses the expectations of prospective consumers'. The application of the repertory grid technique allowed for the generation of qualitative data. This made it possible to develop a quantitative yardstick for gauging perceived expectations. Conceptualisation of the expectation standard, defined as estimates of anticipated performance, lead toward the identification of fourteen attributes. The mental categorisation of attributes across the various locations that provide maternity care services in Malta is captured. The study demonstrates how prospective consumers with no previous experience of maternity care services, have definite expectations based upon their personal needs and perception of services, which at times, differs between the sexes. The prospective consumers' mental judgement towards anticipated value for money, is quantified, compared and contrasted. Constant values, for each attribute relative to cost are discovered. This finding in turn instigates other questions that merit further research. Although, this study enables health care managers to have a better understanding of their prospective consumers' view point, it must also be realised that an organisations' success depends also upon other equally important factors. Hence, managers must strive to seek how to create a balance. Description: M.SC.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT. Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/44634 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/43499 Title: Efficient use of nursing resource at St. Luke's Hospital Abstract: This study examined whether the available nursing resources on the Surgical Department at St. Luke's Hospital are being utilised efficiently. Data was collected using quantitative and qualitative research methods and questionnaires were distributed to 7 nursing tutors and the Surgical Department's nursing personnel to: • Classify activities into nursing and non-nursing. • Determine the activities nurses are currently performing in the Surgical • Department at St. Luke's Hospital. • Calculate the time spent on nursing and non-nursing activities on the • surgical wards. • Determine the nursing complement needed to carry out ideal nursing care. • Prove the effectiveness of skill mix. An important finding of this study is that nurses are currently spending a significant amount of time on non-nursing duties and also on nursing duties that could be delegated to nursing assistants under the supervision of qualified staff. The results obtained from the data collated prove that there are enough nurses on the Surgical Department at St. Luke's Hospital to cater for the nursing workload demand, provided that: 1. Nurses are distributed appropriately according to workload. 2. They carry out nursing duties only. 3. The requisite support staff is available to perform the other duties. Further studies are needed to: • Determine the activities carried out by non-nursing personnel working on the wards. • Study the availability and quality of support services and staff. • Evaluate the deployment of the nursing staff in relation to workload. • Determine whether the findings of this study hold also for the other departments within St. Luke's Hospital. Description: M.SC.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT. Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/43499 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/41107 Title: The service quality of clinical laboratories. Abstract: A clinical laboratory can achieve its service objectives more effectively if a systematic process for customer input is incorporated into its quality management program. Two main types of information are required from customers: their expectations of the clinical laboratory service and their evaluation of the actual performance of the laboratory. Many service organisations obtain this information by measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Service quality is a performance evaluation that measures the difference between customers' expectations and their perceptions of the service actually received. The purpose of this study was the development of an instrument for the measurement of the service quality of a clinical laboratory. This was effected by the customisation of SERVQUAL, the service quality measure most widely used by service organisations. The study also investigated the properties of the service quality instrument and the measurement of the two component parts of the service quality construct, namely customer expectations and customer perceptions. The research strategy incorporated the following steps. The factors which are relevant in determining the service quality of a clinical laboratory were identified through a review of the relevant literature and in-depth interviews with clinicians. The identified issues were used to customise SERVQUAL. Separate scales for customer expectations and customer perceptions were formulated from the customised scale. The results of the study were as follows. First, the customised scale was shown to have psychometric properties that were superior to those of the original scale. Secondly, the expectations and perceptions parts of the service quality scale can be administered separately without affecting the quality of the data obtained. Thirdly, the psychometric properties of the expectations and perceptions measures were considerably different. The properties of the service quality scale combined features of the properties of both the expectations and perceptions instruments. Finally, gap scores calculated from mean expectations scores performed better than the classical SERVQUAL gap scores. The results of the study served as a basis for recommendations regarding the significance and value of expectations, perceptions and service quality measurements, and their incorporation into the quality management programs of clinical laboratories. Description: M.SC.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT. Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/41107 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z