Purpose: This article aims to shows how changing information routines might influence service quality perceptions. A secondary aim was to test an instrument's everyday feasibility for healthcare quality assessment.
Design/methodology/approach: Patients often show high-grade satisfaction with general care although they display dissatisfaction with some information they receive. A questionnaire survey was used to establish patient satisfaction after introducing standardised guidelines for nursing performance and information provision. Patient satisfaction was assessed using "quality from the patient's perspective" (QPP) questionnaire. Patients from gynaecological and haematological wards (n = 71) (the study group) and a comparison group (n = 67) were surveyed. Patients were given the questionnaire when their diagnosis was confirmed, after six months and 12 months. Data were collected over 36 months.
Findings: The study group showed an increased satisfaction with information from nurses (p = 0.001) but not physicians. However, patients tended to put greater emphasis on socio-cultural issues than information and cooperation seemed to represent high quality from the patient's perspective.
Research limitations/implications: Successively lower response rate, mainly owing to cancer patients' deteriorating medical conditions. The study verifies the concordance model's relative merits.
Practical implications: The study verifies that care's softer side appears to be more important to patients than information improvements.
Originality/value: Results confirm that patients' satisfaction with information had implications for overall quality; but social issues seemed more important and enhancing quality is best achieved through participation and cooperation.