THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF OBSTETRICIAN-GYNECOLOGISTS AND ASSESSMENT OF THEIR LEVEL OF PREPAREDNESS ON THE ISSUES OF QUALITY OF MEDICAL CARE

• Published in: Uchenye zapiski (Sankt-Peterburgskiĭ gosudarstvennyĭ medit͡s︡inskiĭ universitet im. akad. I.P. Pavlova) Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 21 - 27
• Main Authors: Yaroslavskiy, K. V., Petrova, N. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Academician I.P. Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University 10.05.2018
• Subjects: level of personnel training; medical care quality; obstetrician-gynecological care
• ISSN: 1607-4181; 2541-8807
• DOI: 10.24884/1607-4181-2018-25-1-21-27

Introduction. One of the conditions for the provision of quality medical care is the involvement of all categories of medical personnel in the quality assurance process, which is impossible without clear knowledge of the theoretical aspects of this concept, including modern notions of conditions, structure, components, and criteria for assessing the quality. A sufficient level of awareness will allow the heads of medical organizations to build properly a quality assurance strategy with active involvement of employees, what is now recognized as one of the main principles of the quality management methodology. Unfortunately, until now the preparedness of medical workers on these issues is insufficient. Moreover, only single studies are devoted to the analysis of this problem, including among obstetrician-gynecological specialists. Research objective is to study the level of preparedness of maternity hospital doctors in the quality of medical care, their opinion on the level of quality and to develop a system of measurements to quality improvement. Material and methods. On the basis of one of the maternity hospitals of St. Petersburg, 95 doctors were questioned using a specially developed questionnaire. The questionnaire included self-assessment by doctors of their preparedness on quality issues, their assessment of the level of the quality in the basic organization, as well as questions to assess the real level of doctors’ knowledge. The correctness of the answers reflecting the current theoretical ideas about the structure, components, criteria for assessing the subjects of control was evaluated by experts of the Quality Service of the Organization. Data processing was carried out on a personal computer using the Statistica 6 software package. Based on the results of the study, recommendations were developed to optimize the training of personnel in the maternity hospital on the quality of medical care and to improve the quality management in the Organization. Results. Assessment of the level of knowledge of medical personnel of the maternity hospital on the quality of medical care showed that 51 respondents (53.7 %) considered themselves sufficiently prepared; 24 (25.2 %) found themselves not quite prepared; 19 (20.0 %) could not assess the level of knowledge on this issue; 1 (1.1 %) refrained from responding. None of the interviewed employees indicated a lack of such knowledge. Answering the special questions (quality criteria, statistical indicators of the maternity hospital, subjects of quality control), some of the respondents could not give the correct answer. The main source of information about the quality of medical care are conferences (62.1 % of respondents noted), thematic cycles of professional development (53.4 %), self-training (41.8 %). The average mark of the assessment of the quality in the basic hospital was 4.2±0.87 (on 5-point grading system). The main suggestions of respondents on quality improvement were: reduction of workload and increase in the number of personnel, improvement of the system of material incentives for employees, material support of the institution. Conclusions. According to the results of the study, the measurements aimed at improving the level of doctor’s knowledge in such subject as medical care quality and stimulating employees to constant work to improve the quality are presented.