Oshen-King Faisal Hospital takes the slogan ‘the client is king’ very seriously. Quality customer care is at the forefront to ensure that patients are catered for in the best way possible.
When you set foot at the hospital premises, it is hard to not notice the warmth and friendliness radiated by a team of young men and women whose work is to ensure patients receive ample care and attention in the most convenient way.
Dressed in dark and light blue uniforms, these customer care representatives are always available to make a patient’s ordeal at the hospital smooth.
Christian Bangumukunzi, a customer care assistant, is part of this remarkable team. His sensitivity when attending to patients is hard to ignore, for what he does, comes from the heart, he says.
Bangumukunzi says customer care is a very crucial aspect, especially to such an institution where care is part and parcel of the client’s contentment.
He says what makes customer care tick is the ability to listen to patients’ needs attentively.
"It is vital to listen to patients carefully because then you understand what they need and do your best to help them, it might even be something bigger than your position but you can try your best to find the solution even if it means reaching out to your superiors,” he says.
Patience is very important and the need to create close relationships with patients by, for example, checking on them until they are discharged, he says.
Deus Ntare, Customer Care Manager at Oshen-King Faisal Hospital, emphasises the relevance of the services, adding that it is hard for an institution to grow when the customer care department is not solid.
Customer care agents at the hospital are signed to welcome patients at the hospital and familiarise them regarding where they are supposed to go. There are also those at the call centre attending to those who need information about the hospital.
Oshen-King Faisal Hospital, Kigali has taken measures to revamp its service delivery. /File photo
"This is very important, especially to us, because of the nature of our clients. We attend to people who are in urgent need of care so, how we handle them right from the time we receive them matters a lot not only for their contentment but in their recovery as well,” Ntare says.
He also points out the advantage of having enough staff that is able to attend to all departments in the hospital, for example, emergency and insurance, among other departments. All of these sections have a customer care officer allocated to them.
The manager highlights the importance they attach to making good first impressions, that’s why they make it a priority for patients to be received with exceptional care when they arrive at the hospital.
With this, he says, clients leave when they are happy and satisfied. He adds that this is the main reason they made it a point to ensure good customer service is part of the hospital’s culture, with an aim of giving the best quality services.
"We do this to ensure that everyone is attended to because not everyone can identify where they have to go since some could be coming in for the first time and don’t have that information,” Ntare points out.
On how they keep track of their rating, Ntare says they give out forms where patients rate the quality of their services.
"Definitely, these people go back and talk to others about our services and they recommend the hospital. We also have those who tweet, but we also give out forms for feedback.”
In a bid to improve their services, the manager says that they identify challenges and plan accordingly. Consistency is important because if the daily services we offer are not reliable, then it is not professional, yet it is important for our clients to trust us, he adds.