Volume:01, Number:06, Oct-2011 Page 101 www.theinternationaljournal.org Quality of service provision of the Psychological sector for families and carers of people with learning disabilities. The case of the Psychiatric Department of “Vostaneio” General Hospital (Lesvos, Greece). Aikaterini Samioti Efstratios Papanis Panagiotis Giavrimis University of the Aegean Department of Sociology Pamfilis 17 8110 Mytilene Greece Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the views of family members and carers of people with learning disabilities regarding the quality of service provision of the Psychological sector of the Psychiatric Department of “Vostaneio” General Hospital (Lesvos, Greece). The results demonstrated a level of family members’ and carers’ satisfaction regarding their contact with mental health service at an average of 74,5 % while a medium level of satisfaction was expressed regarding the satisfaction of family members’ and carers’ emotional needs. Additionally, ambivalent evaluations were expressed regarding the overall quality of service provision. The present research confirms mainly previous researches that have taken place in our country, which present indeed high indicators of satisfaction from the medical paramedical and nursing services and low indicators of satisfaction from the organisational and hotel operations of hospitals NSH. Additionally, it clearly demonstrates the importance of a flexible mental health service, capable of addressing the complex needs of families and carers of people with learning disabilities. Key words: Learning disabilities; Quality of service; Families; Carers; Psychiatry Introduction During the past two decades an unprecedented development in the organization and delivery of health, education and social care services for learnig disability has been designed but still the needs of families and carers of people with learning disabilities are not significantly addressed. (Tunali and Power 1993; Stalker 2003; Social Policy Research Unit 2007). Satisfaction with the Psychological sector of the Psychiatric Department of “Vostaneio” General Hospital was measured in a large study conducted in the Psychological sector by one of the clinical psychologists who work in a full time base in the Psychological sector (Spyrou 2009). This study clearly demonstrated the serious omissions and limitations of this community- based mental health service in a frontier island region, Lesvos island. One of the significant limitations of this study was that did not manage to identify the needs and the perceptions of families of people with learning disabilities regarding the quality of care provided by the Psychological sector. The present study is the first and only study conducted in the Psychological sector focused on the needs of families and carers of people with learning disabilities including families and carers of people with profound and complex learning disabilities.