Results of Maskína’s survey on health care services

In East Iceland, 428 individuals participated in the survey. In general, HSA’s healthcare services were very well performed compared to other parts of the country. Service scores above average and accessibility was generally good. In addition, in the vast majority of cases HSA’s healthcare services were positive compared to the 2022 survey.

In terms of individual aspects of the survey, East Iceland is better than the national average in terms of trust in the health care system, as about 70% of respondents in East Iceland have very high or rather high trust in HSA health care compared to over 60% overall.

In East Iceland, 75% of respondents said they were very or rather satisfied with the service and the vast majority of respondents (90%) believed that the attitude and conduct of the health care staff was good and therefore felt that the staff worked well together. However, a slightly smaller proportion of respondents experienced good cooperation between the health care and other service providers, or about 60%.

75% of participants felt they had received adequate information or education in connection with their mission. As for participation in decision making on treatment, 13% felt they could not participate and this figure increases by 3% between years.

It was also found that only in 26% of cases participants said that a health care worker had discussed their life habits with the person during their last visit to the health care center, usually about exercise, nutrition and/or sleep. Here, however, HSA has improved a bit and increased by 6% since last time.

The majority of participants booked appointments with the health care service by phone and more than half of them attended the clinic. 65% of those with a very urgent case received immediate service and the same was the case with those with a relatively urgent case, where 65% received service the same day. Those with a case that needed service/time within two days received in 62% of cases an appropriate time and those who did not have an urgent case but needed service within a week received it in 97% of cases. The majority of those questioned in East Iceland received a time within a week after seeking an appointment, only 6.9% had to wait longer, which is a much smaller proportion than in other parts of the country (25-35%).

Despite these results, about 43% of respondents believed that shorter wait for appointments/services was the most urgent to improve in terms of HSA health care. Another finding regarding improvements in services was that 40% believed that registering a permanent GP was the most urgent for improved services, about 37% believed that it was most urgent to facilitate access to physicians by phone and 30% believed increased electronic services were the most urgent. Furthermore, only 9% of respondents believed no improvements were needed and this number decreases considerably between years, 22%.

It can be noted that the factors that came the worst out in East Iceland in terms of HSA health care services compared to other parts of the country are those factors that relate to electronic booking of time through a health care facility and having a registered permanent GP.

The results of the survey can be interpreted as a general view that HSA staff is providing excellent service and their attitude and manner are generally exemplary. The majority of participants were given appropriate time. What indicates opportunities relates to questions concerning the clients’ lifestyle and impact on their health. Then it is possible to look more closely at issues concerning electronic services and cooperation between the health care and other service providers. As for the services that can be improved, the majority of participants mentioned a lack of specialist services.