The attitude of district hospital staff towards the system of quality management and its development in the institution

Aim of the study: To assess the attitude of hospital medical staff to the system of quality management and the possibilities to improve it in the institution. Tasks: 1. To assess the knowledge of hospital medical staff about the system of quality management and the possibilities of its development in the institution. 2. To identify the attitude of the staff to its participation in the preparatory process of quality management documents. 3. To compare the knowledge of the doctors and nurses about the system of quality management and their readiness to participate in its certification. Methods. The research was carried out in 2011 in a district hospital which had 220 medical employees. A questionnaire-form anonymous survey of the hospital medical staff was conducted. 204 questionnaire forms were distributed, 150 questionnaires were returned with the answers. The response rate was 73.5 %. The statistical analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS 19.0 version of the packet for statistical data analysis. Results. 59.3 % of the respondents are not aware of the system of quality management, 63.3 % do not know whether such a system is functioning in their institution. 58.0 % of the medical staff admitted that they lack knowledge about the quality management system which exists in their institution. 42.1 % do not participate in the development of the system of quality management and point out that the major problem in improving quality management system is insufficient information. The majority of the medical staff believe that the head of medical audit group and the audit group should participate in preparing quality management documents. According to most respondents the biggest benefit of quality management system for the institution is that it improves the work planning and prevents undesirable incidents.46.3 % respondents think that the system of quality management is important for their institution, but only 24.8 % claim that they are ready to take part in the certification of quality management system in their institution. Conclusions. 1. The main problem in the development of quality management system in the institution is lack of information about health care quality management. Though most respondents do not know if such a system is functioning in their institution, but more than a half believe that the system of quality management is important for their institution. However, only one fourth of the respondents are ready to take part in the certification of quality management system in their institution. 2. Majority of medical staff believe that work instructions, schedules of procedures, schedules for filling in the forms of medical documents are beneficial for the institution, but very few employees suggest some improvements or take part in preparation of quality management system documents. 3. More doctors than nurses know what the system of quality management is as well as the aims of institution quality policy and ISO standards. However, more nurses than doctors believe that there are more benefits for the institution if the system of quality management is improved