Assessing knowledge of the patient bill of rights in central Saudi Arabia: a survey of primary health care providers and recipients

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the implementation of the patient bill of rights (PBR) in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore to what extent health care recipients and providers know about the bill and its implementation. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional survey conducted on health care professionals and patients at Primary Health Care Centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during July 2010. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study employed a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from 500 patients (aged 18 years or older) and 500 health care providers (physicians and nurses) in primary health care (PHC) centers in Riyadh. Data was collected on the respondents' knowledge of the existence and contents of the bill, the extent to which the bill is implemented, and the obstacles that may hinder bill implementation. The data was analyzed and presented in a descriptive fashion. RESULTS: More than three quarters of patients and one third of PHC providers did not know about the existence of the bill. Among those who knew about its existence, about three quarters of patients and almost half of PHC providers had little (or very little) knowledge about the bill contents. In general, patients scored lower means of perception than PHC staff about the implementation of the bill's aspects. PHC staff reported several obstacles that may hinder the implementation of the PBR in Saudi Arabia. CONCLUSIONS: Patients and health care providers lack necessary knowledge about the PBR. More dissemination of information about the bill, taking into account the particularities of the Saudi population is needed. Future research is required to establish measures that are effective in ensuring that patients rights are ensured.