The first of the four annual opinion polls on health care in Rivne region was presented today by the experts of Sociological Group Rating. Although these opinion polls are conducted as part of the World Bank Project Serving People, Improving Health, the social scientists analyzed issues relating to cardiovascular diseases and also the state of health care in the region as a whole.

According to Serhii Rybachok, Management Consultant of the Sub-project Support Consultancy Unit, such polls will be conducted annually, because they provide analysis of the World Bank Project implementation and assess its value to Rivne region dwellers.

“It is planned as part of the World Bank Project to renovate more than 100 PHC ambulatories in the region, procure over 5,000 units of modern cardiovascular care equipment, teach modern methods of cardiovascular disease diagnosis and emergency care to almost 1,500 family doctors and paramedics. We are not going through the motions. Our task is to actually improve the quality of medical services. The poll results presented today set our starting point. After this, we can track changes in medical care quality in the region in real time”, said Serhii Rybachok.

According to Oleksii Antypovych, Director of Sociological Group Rating, the poll showed great hope among region dwellers for positive changes produced by this Project and by the Ukrainian health reform as a whole.

“Half of the respondents believe that the implementation of this Project will decrease the rate of cardiovascular diseases in the region in general, 20 per cent of those interviewed think that the situation will not change, 20 per cent of the respondents could not make their mind, and only 6 per cent believe that the situation will get worse. About 70 per cent of those who are familiar with the Project believe that the situation will improve. Slightly more positive attitude prevails among youth, middle-aged people and rural population. 47 per cent of the respondents believe that the situation in the health system will improve over the next one to two years as a result of the reform, one-third of them think it will not change, while 7 per cent believe it will get worse”, said Oleksii Antypovych.

The social scientists also interviewed Rivne region dwellers about their general attitude towards health care system in the region. The results of the poll showed that 23 per cent of the respondents believe that the overall quality of public health care in the region has improved over the past two years; the same share of respondents pointed out improvement of the overall quality of medical care they received personally. However, 38-39 per cent of the respondents see no changes. Villagers are more likely to recognize positive change compared to urban residents (the rating in district centers is the lowest).

“The rating of changes in health care sector in your region is much higher compared to the nationwide rating. According to our data, only 9 per cent of respondents in Ukraine noted positive changes in health care, whereas the rate in your region is 23 per cent 30 per cent of the respondents judge Ukrainian health care reform negatively. The rate of negative judgment of health care sector in your region is only 26 per cent”, said Mr. Antypovych.

For his part, Yurii Osipchuk, Head of Health Department of Rivne RSA, said that dissatisfaction is most likely caused by bad financial support of the health care sector and assured that the results of the poll will be taken into account in the nearest future.

“We have drawn up first steps to take the results of the poll into account. In particular, they will cover the awareness of family physicians in urban areas. Villagers know their family physicians better. And, vice versa, rural medicine managers should pay more attention to physicians’ resource base and their training”, commented Yurii Osipchuk.

According to the poll, the majority of the respondents (67 per cent) know who their family physician or GP is.Awareness is higher among peasants, women, middle-aged people and seniors, as well as parents. More than half (54 per cent) of all respondents fully or partially trust their family physician. It should be noted that women and seniors have more trust in doctors than men or the youth. The majority of those who know their family physician trust him/her (74 per cent).

In conclusion, it should be noted that this opinion poll had been conducted among the general public of the region aged 18 and over. The sample is representative by age, sex, districts and settlement type. Sample size: 800 respondents interviewed face-to-face. Sampling error does not exceed 3.5 per cent. The poll period covered December 21–30, 2016.

Sincerely and always ready to cooperate,

Rivne region World Bank Sub-project Support Consultancy Unit.

(If you have any questions about the World Bank Project implementation in Rivne region, please email us at: media.rivnewb@gmail.comor rivnegus@gmail.com.)

• Materials of event:
  RG_Rivne_Healthcare_032017_press_517.pdf

Foto