Quality of healthcare service delivery in public sector hospitals: a case study based on Western Province in Sri Lanka

The main objective of this paper is identification of current service quality of healthcare delivery of public sector hospitals to assess the quality determinants of healthcare delivery and to suggest policies and strategies to improve service quality of healthcare delivery. This study was conducted in Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts in Western Province in Sri Lanka. A structured questionnaire survey based on SERVQUAL model related to healthcare and situation analysis based on in-depth interviews were carried out. The findings of this paper indicate that there is a large gap between the expectations of the patients and the perceived services. These gaps are high in rural, peripheral hospitals compared with the teaching, national and base hospitals in urban areas. The study recommends that the government should take immediate action to reform the public health system through proper evaluation of the requirements of the patients and all other key stake holders.