Health Systems in Transition - Hungary - World Health Organization ...

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Health systems in transition Hungary
Table 7.2
Comparison of responsiveness (%) in inpatient and outpatient care in Hungary
and selected countries, 2002
Domain Croatia
Czech
Republic Hungary Slovakia Slovenia
Average across
countries
Inpatient care (overall) 50.9 76.3 68.3 68.7 68.9 66.9
prompt attention 42.5 73.8 45.0 70.7 61.0 57.8
dignity 64.3 82.2 79.2 79.7 79.3 77.2
communication 55.6 72.6 74.8 79.7 70.9 71.8
autonomy 31.6 56.7 62.8 56.4 57.1 53.9
confidentiality 54.0 77.6 69.9 74.0 74.6 70.0
choice of provider 54.3 78.7 64.2 60.6 60.4 63.5
quality of basic amenities 43.8 79.5 57.2 58.9 66.2 60.1
social support 61.0 87.4 92.8 70.9 80.8 79.6
Outpatient care (overall) 62.6 79.1 74.0 66.0 71.5 69.7
prompt attention 45.1 66.4 33.2 46.8 49.6 47.8
dignity 76.5 90.6 89.5 82.7 82.8 84.2
communication 77.1 85.3 86.7 76.0 77.2 79.9
autonomy 47.9 65.4 75.2 49.6 64.1 58.1
confidentiality 70.5 80.9 83.2 74.3 75.1 75.9
choice of provider 63.9 85.0 83.2 74.3 75.1 75.9
quality of basic amenities 57.4 80.1 69.1 54.9 65.7 63.5
Source: Vitrai, 2007.
A Eurobarometer survey addressing perceptions on patient safety and quality
of care in 2009 seems to confirm the dissatisfaction of Hungarian citizens
with the health system in general. According to the survey, 22% of Hungarian
respondents perceived the quality of care as very bad and an additional 50%
as bad. As a result, Hungary ranked 26th among the 27 Member States of
the EU, surpassing only Greece. Accordingly, 67% of Hungarian respondents
considered quality of care in Hungary worse than in other EU Member States,
while only 2% believed it to be better (European Opinion Research Group,
2010).
According to a report on 10 years of patient rights representative activity,
the number of patient complaints increased from 6750 in 2000 to 11 297 in
2009(Foundation for the Rights of Patients, 2010). In 2009, patient rights
representatives covered 144 inpatient care providers and 28 polyclinics with
regular office hours. Of patient rights complaints, 42% were related to hospital
care, 25.2% to outpatient specialist care and 15.8% to primary care (a notable
increase from 11.0% in 2008). As in previous years, violation of the right to
health care was the most common complaint with 37%. According to the annual
report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights, overall 9.6% of