Assessment of Responsiveness of outpatient Services at a specialized hospital in Sri Lanka

Introduction: The responsiveness is how the health care system fulfills the needs of non-health expectations of the patients. This responsiveness is an important pillar to provide quality health care services to patients in a country. It is needs to continue measurement and assessment at outpatient department to provide high level services. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted at Rheumatology Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama in Sri Lanka. A simple random sampling method was applied for the patient survey. Eligible patients were randomly selected from the list prior to the clinic. This procedure was repeated on clinic days until the required sample size was met. An Interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ) and check list for qualitative data were used to assess the perceptions of the patients regarding the responsiveness. Results: Overall responsiveness was rated at 61.2% by internal patients and 36.3% by external patients. The baseline assessment of responsiveness revealed significant gaps in communication, confidentiality, patient dignity, and the availability of basic amenities. Domains such as patient autonomy and the choice of care provider scored particularly low, reflecting systemic challenges within the government healthcare system. Limited access to information and lack of caretaker support were identified as critical areas for improvement. Conclusion: Key gaps included poor communication skills, insufficient privacy during consultations, and poor physical infrastructure, such as a lack of accessible toilets and inadequate waiting areas. Patients and caregivers reported dissatisfaction with resource availability and the responsiveness of healthcare staff.