Service Quality in Alcohol Treatment: A Qualitative Study

The objective of the study was to qualitatively evaluate the managerial and organisational issues associated with service quality in a privately funded alcohol treatment centre in the UK. Two different groups of participants at a private treatment clinic were interviewed. The first group comprised 25 of its patients. The second group comprised 15 staff members of the same clinic. All 40 interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis was performed on the data to reveal the key themes. Six themes emerged from the interviews amongst patients and staff of the treatment clinic. The six themes were: (1) the fellowship of patients, (2) professionalism, (3) process and measurement, (4) incarceration, (5) empathy gap, and (6) access to treatment. Findings suggested there was a strong emphasis on management of the service delivery with established quality systems and performance measurement systems in place. The two service quality gaps, suggested by the research, were the rigid delivery of service and a lack of empathetic relationships with patients. Furthermore, by evaluating the service quality delivery from the service user’s perspective, a voice was given to a group of patients, who in research terms have gone largely unheard.