INTRODUCTION: A three-part questionnaire was sent out to 429 clinics submitting smears to the cytology department to evaluate levels of satisfaction with the service provided. Part one dealt with areas including turnaround time, dealing with urgent requests, ease of telephone access for queries, attitude of staff and availability of smear taking equipment. Part two listed services that are currently available and users were asked to prioritize them in order of importance. Part three asked for developments or enhancements in the service that our users would like to see. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 429 questionnaires were issued and 62 were returned (response rate of 14.5%). At that time most clinics waited more than 6 weeks for reports to be returned (top priority for 95%). Over two-thirds were happy/very happy with the response to urgent work and nearly 90% found it easy to access the department with 96% indicating that staff were very helpful or helpful. Twenty-five per cent said smear-taking equipment was not readily available and over 40% said they had problems obtaining extra supplies. The laboratory uses pre-packaged kits that are sent directly from the manufacturer. Approximately, 95% requested a faster turnaround time for reports, followed by computer links between the laboratory and clinic (71.7%). Many users would like to have regular two-way feedback between themselves and the laboratory (64.1%), more teaching/training courses (51.2%) and more information about the NHSCSP (48.7%). Other improvements and developments scored by the users include more readily available smear taking equipment, improved courier service, more visits to the laboratory and meetings between the laboratory and clinic. Other than those developments already listed, users would like: changes to the request form to record 'cervix visualized' and 360 'sweep taken', a return to the provision of cytobrushes, return to the old-style envelopes, changes to the report format, provision of standard letters to send to patients,change to LBC. The poor response rate suggests that overall, users are satisfied with the service.
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