Assessment of the quality of leprosy services from the clients’ perspective in Thailand

To assess the quality of the leprosy service in health facilities from the clients’ perspective, qualitative data collection methods, i.e. semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and priority cards, were conducted in six health facilities located in all regions of Thailand. A total of 29 patients were interviewed and three focus group discussions involving 20 patients were carried out. In addition, six health staff and six community members were interviewed. The results show that patients delayed months to years before they went to a public health facility. This is due to the poor knowledge about leprosy. Most of the interviewed patients tried to get rid of the skin symptoms at home, using topical medicated cream or herbs. Distance was not regarded as a problem, because most patients go to nearby district hospitals. In district hospitals misdiagnosis is still common. More than half of leprosy patients said they did not receive any information about leprosy before they were diagnosed. Travel costs seem to cause problems for a few poor and aged patients who needed someone to accompany them. Patients at district and provincial hospitals complained that the waiting times to consult staff were too long. In most health facilities, privacy during examinations was not adequate. Patients placed a priority on health staff being friendly and respectful to them. When patients were asked to list their priorities of the quality of services, they considered the attitude of health staff, low costs to go to the leprosy services, adequate attention to POD and adequate information to leprosy patients on their disease, as their top four items. Important recommendations resulting from the study were: (1) health education to the public has to be strengthened; (2) training of health staff to minimize doctors’ delay; (3) good attitude of health staff towards leprosy patients should be sustained; and (4) leprosy services in district and provincial hospitals should be improved as a one-stop service for leprosy patients.