Students’ perception in healthcare delivery In University of Cape Coast hospital

Abstract

This study examined students’ perception of healthcare delivery in the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Hospital. Other supporting purposes included finding out students’ knowledge on the specific services offered by UCC Hospital, identifying the extent to which students are satisfied with service delivery in UCC Hospital and lastly to examine the underlying factors that impede healthcare delivery at UCC Hospital. A case study technique was employed. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather the requisite data essential for addressing the research questions. A total of 400 students were chosen using the convenience sampling method. Mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentages were used to analyse the data. The study discovered that students had high level of knowledge on the available healthcare services provided at UCC Hospital. It was again found that students were to a large extent satisfied with the service delivery in UCC Hospital in terms of tangibility, reliability and empathy dimensions of the SERVQUAL model. Lastly, the study revealed very long awaiting queues before been attended to (M=3.88, Sd =0.578), long distance to access the facility (M=3.71, Sd =0.552), poor attitudes of healthcare providers (M=3.68, Sd =0.542) and personal dislike for the staff at the Hospital (M=2.88, Sd =0.412) as some of the factors that impeded healthcare delivery in UCC Hospital. Based on these findings, two recommendations are proposed. Firstly, the UCC Hospital administration should prioritise improvements in queuing systems and accessibility. Secondly, efforts should focus on enhancing healthcare provider attitudes and patient engagement.