WILLEMSTAD - Confidence in doctors ranks high in the patient satisfaction survey of the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC), both for clinical care and the outpatient clinic. However, dissatisfaction with waiting times remains high for both. This is based on the data from September. Currently, waiting times for the first outpatient clinic visit are around four weeks.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the CMC received an average score of 8.7 from all admitted patients and an 8.4 from those who visited the outpatient clinic. This is higher than the scores from the survey conducted from July to September, when the departments received scores of 8.2 and 8.3.
Confidence in doctors and their knowledge hovers between 90 and 95 percent. Despite these positive scores, the hospital acknowledges that there is room for improvement. Out of all patients, 62.7 percent were satisfied with the waiting list times, and 66.2 percent were content with information regarding medication side effects. The previous survey had higher scores for waiting lists.
On the outpatient clinic, people were much less satisfied with the information on waiting times; only 34.9 percent reported being content. About 70.7 percent were satisfied with information about medication side effects, and 75.7 percent with the waiting time in the clinic itself. These percentages have slightly increased compared to the previous survey.
The CMC has reportedly hired six additional surgical assistants and is working on expanding the number of operating rooms from four to seven. To reduce waiting times, the CMC states that they need to hire extra surgical assistants and more nurses. Specialist recruitment must continue, and additional outpatient clinic sessions need to be scheduled.