Patient satisfaction in mental health care. Evaluating an evaluative method

In May last year the British Medical Journal reported the results of a survey by MIND of users'views of psychiatric care (Kingman, 1994;Rogerseta!, 1994), which revealed a level of dissatisfaction .In response, a letter appeared questioning the findings and pointing to higher levels of satisfaction in a patient sample (Crowe et a!, 1994). Contradictory conclusions are typical of research into patients' views. They are a cause for concern whenwe considerthegrowthofpatientsatisfaction surveysand the resource sinvolved. Consequently, it is worthe xamining the extentowhich patient satisfaction surveys,as evaluativetools,can fulfilthepurposeforwhichtheyareintended. We should begin by clarifying th eobjectives of such surveys. Reviewsof the patient satisfaction literature' have
tended to concentrate on methodological problems. We suggest that roblematic and contradictory re
search findings may stem from unstable assumptions about the concept of satisfaction.