​Patients accessing healthcare services at Gauteng health facilities have expressed satisfaction on the level of service received in the 2023/24 financial year, giving the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) an overall 84% score in the Patient Experience of Care (PEC) survey, which is 4% more than the set national target. 
This rating is an improvement from 83% obtained during the 2022/23 financial year. Out of 1 670 545 questionnaires responded to in the PEC survey which took place between July and September 2023, a total of 1 410 040 were responded positively to. 
The performance is derived from a set of six (6) domains namely, access to care, availability of medication, patient safety, cleanliness and Infection Prevention and Control, values and attitudes as well as patients waiting times. Patients' expectations about the services provided at the facilities may be influenced by numerous attributes like the patient's past experiences, external influences and personal needs amongst others. 
The domains of priorities where Gauteng health facilities achieved above the set national targets are Patient Safety with 85.9% (+20.9%),  Cleanliness & Infection Prevention and Control with 81.5% (+7.5%), Values and Attitudes  with 84.1% (+10.1%) and Patient Waiting Times with 80.7% (+6.7%). 
The PEC survey is prescribed nationally through the National Guideline on conducting Patient Experience of Care Survey in Public Health Establishments which requires that healthcare facilities should score at least 80% or more as an overall score. It reflects the actual service that patients received either good or bad against a patient's expectations.
The domains that still need to be improved on are Availability and Use of Medicines scoring 93.4% (-0,7) and Accessibility of Health Services scoring 85.9% (-14,1). These are the areas that the Department is working to improve on so that we reach the set target of 95% and 100% respectively. 
The GDoH has introduced a number of measures to improve patient experience of care across services centres. These including the introduction of the I Serve With a Smile (ISWAS) campaign, improved AIDET Patient Communication and Daily Patient Opinion Survey (DPOS).
The ISWAS campaign has been rolled out across all public hospitals in the province including clinics and community health centres as part of efforts to address patient dissatisfaction, tackle complaints and foster a positive working environment among health workers, as well as avoid unnecessary litigations and improving staff moral.
AIDET as a patient care concept plays a major role in Customer Care related issues and has allowed health professionals to improve communication with patients as well as improve values and attitudes.
The  Daily Patient Opinion Survey is one of the initiatives that GDoH Quality Assurance Customer Care Unit has initiated to mitigate complaints by responding to patient complaints in real-time and has also contributed to the monitoring of AIDET concepts with categories such as Staff Attitude, Patient Education and Patient Care being brought to the forefront in attempts to provide enhanced communication, patient care and analysis.
The DPOS has displayed an effectiveness in capturing and addressing concerns in real-time, potentially contributing to the lower formal complaint rates. Overall, the extensive data collected through the DPOS enables targeted interventions to enhance overall patient satisfaction and healthcare delivery across the surveyed facilities in Gauteng.