¹Rajakaruna, I.M.S.M, ²Bandara T.W.M.A.J, ³Ponweera, P.A.D.D.S, ⁴Dharmagunawardane, D, ⁵Arnold, S.M

^1,2,3,4,5Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka

Introduction:
Customer satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness are key essential characteristics of good service delivery. Unacceptable delays in providing services and subsequent re-visits had created customer dissatisfaction with services provided by the Regional Director of Health Services’ Office, Kurunegala. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the current levels of customer satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness of service provision to nursing officers at the Regional Director of Health Services’ Office, Kurunegala.
Methods:
Ten services offered to nursing officers from Establishment Branch were prioritized for the assessment. The research adopted mixed methods and involved a customer survey, a desk review, key informant interviews and focus group discussions.

Proportions, percentages and means were calculated for quantitative data and z test for percentages was applied as appropriate. The p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Narrative analysis was done for qualitative data.
Results:
Major deficiencies identified were non-availability of service standards, ineffective two-way communication and submitting incomplete documents by applicants. Compliance of nursing officers’ files with service standards was 40%. It was revealed that 56.6% of nursing officers had to revisit on average 2.4 times to receive the requested service. Only 11.5% of nursing officers were satisfied with the service provision. Suggested solutions include complying with developed service standards, establishing an effective feedback response system, developing document submission checklists, format compilations and a booklet on work steps.
Conclusions:
The customer satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness of services to nursing officers at RDHSK was unsatisfactory. It is recommended to implement interventions to improve service delivery by the Establishment Branch of RDHSK for healthcare staff category-wise.

Efficiency, Effectiveness, Services, Nursing officers, Establishment Branch, Regional Director of Health Services’ Office.

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Volume 05 Issue 02 February 2022