Background
Tu Du hospital in Ho Chi Minh City is a governmental hospital providing high-level maternal and child care service. The number of clients seeking help at the hospital has steadily increased over the years, which has led to long waiting hours and less time spent on each health examination. Around 400 pregnant women visit the hospital on a daily basis, which has resulted in an overcrowded antenatal clinic and stretched hospital resources.

About the project
This project was created to improve the quality of antenatal care in Tu Du hospital, by reducing the waiting hours at the clinic, increasing the contact time between clients and health service providers and improving the client satisfaction. The project team identified the key problems at the hospital and then recruited and rearranged staff members to make the services more efficient. Capacity-building trainings were also held with the nurses, to improve their skills and knowledge related to antenatal care.

Results
By the end of the project, the average time spent by the clients at the hospital had been reduced by 1 hour and 40 minutes and the average contact time between clients and service providers increased from 30 minutes to 41,9 minutes. The number of clients who were satisfied with the quality of the antenatal care services increased from 53.3% before the project, to 86.7% by the end of it. The staff members’ satisfaction with the service quality also increased from 60.7% to 90.3%.

Year: 2007