comparison of the quality of night paediatric urgent care in rural and urban areas of lublin province, eastern poland – appraisals by parents of children requiring medical attention

Introduction The quality of primary medical care for children in Poland is unsatisfactory. In the ranking known as ‘the European Health Consumer Index’, Poland (taking the patient point of view on healthcare quality) is classified on the 27th position out of the 33 possible. The unsolved problems concern inter alia the quality and availability of night paediatric urgent care. Objective The aim was assessing the quality as well as the level of satisfaction with the night paediatric urgent care in the Lublin Province of eastern Poland. Material and Methods The materials for this study consisted of 540 parents of children aged 6–16 years benefiting from night paediatric urgent medical assistance in Lublin Province. The survey was conducted using the Original Survey Questionnaire. Results Inhabitants of the Lublin Province (regardless of place of residence) generally assessed the quality and accessibility of night paediatric urgent care facilities as only satisfactory. Inhabitants living in rural areas have worse access to night paediatric urgent care facilities because of having to travel greater distances, and receive less comprehensive medical assistance than inhabitants living in more urbanized areas, and they are more often referred to hospital emergency departments. During the past five years, both the availability and quality of night paediatric urgent care did not change significantly. Conclusions Inhabitants of the Lublin Province (regardless of place of residence) generally assessed the quality as well as accessibility of night paediatric urgent care facilities as only satisfactory. Rural residents have more reasons for dissatisfaction than urban dwellers. Both the quality and availability of such medical care needs to be improved.