Abstract

Background: Mental disorders can increase the economic burden on the individuals, communities and nations. In order to reduce these huge burdens, mental hospitals must provide a good quality of service.
Aim: To assess the quality of mental health services in a major mental health institution in Nigeria.
Methods: A cross sectional descriptive survey of 300 attendees. A pre - tested Interviewer administered questionnaire measuring four quality domains (Physical environment, attitude of health workers, time management and work process) was used. Data were analysed using SPSS version
Previous works on the patient's view of quality of care or patient satisfaction showed that the most important aspect appear to be the relationship between staff and patient (Langle etal. 2003). 20.
Results: The mean age of the attendees was 39.26 ± 12.43 years. There were more females (55%) than males (45%). The average time spent by the majority of the clients was 10 - 30 minutes in virtually all the units except at the pharmacy. Fifty eight percent rated the overall quality of service as good. Seventy four per cent would recommend the hospital for other clients. More married attendees significantly rated time management as poor than singleattendees (p < 0.05).

Key words: Key words: Attendees, Quality of services. Mental disorders, time management