[Perceived quality of care among health professionals at the University Hospital of Oran (EHUO)].
Created in 2003 as a profit organization, the University Hospital of Oran (Etablissement Hospitalier Universitaire d'Oran-EHUO) is currently in the process of developing a 'Quality' project aimed at assessing staff perception of quality. 20% of staff members representing the various professional categories working at EHUO (medical, nursing and administrative staff) were selected using quota sampling. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in March 2009 with 117 staff members from 25 medical and 5 non-medical units. The average length of service among medical and administrative staff was higher than the average length of service of nursing staff (8.3 vs 5.8 years; p = 0.9 Kruskal-Wallis H test). In discussing the question of quality, it was found that all categories of staff emphasized their specific professional experiences, standards and frames of reference. All staff members showed a greater preference for the various dimensions of the "are process" (mostly physicians and nurses rather than administrative staff (p=0.01)) than for the "structure" or "organization" components of the quality plan. In this sense, there appears to be a greater focus on technical rather than management aspects, as shown by the fact that two thirds of staff members were ill-informed about the hospital's quality assurance program (quality management, blood safety, complaints management...). While they appeared to be fully supportive of audit and certification procedures, 50% of health staff members were reluctant to support patient involvement in the management of the 'Quality' project. Finally, there appears to be a lack of awareness of quality concepts, standards and methodologies among hospital staff. This study suggests that there is a need for greater awareness, further training, and greater monitoring of practices based on concrete actions.