Satisfaction with health care in a Swedish primary care district. A ten year's perspective.

In a study that covers ten years, a questionnaire about use of health care facilities and satisfaction with care was mailed out each autumn to 1/60 representative samples of the population in Sollentuna, a Swedish primary care district with three health centres. An open-ended question concerning "what is good and what is bad in the health service today" was used to measure the respondents' attitudes. The health centres attracted most comment and were considered on the whole to function better in terms of service and care than the hospitals. The latter were heavily criticized for long queues and poor availability. The continuity, however, was considered fairly poor in both the primary care and the hospitals. The few comments on private practitioners were almost without exception positive. The attributes of (all types of) care to which the respondents attached the greatest importance were closely connected with the orientation and objectives which have been stated internationally for primary care, viz. availability, continuity, quality/safety, primary responsibility, and co-ordination. Improvement of resources and reorganization in small health care teams at one of the three health centres prompted a significant increase of positive attitudes to primary care.