Objectives: To assess patient satisfaction with mental health services. Client satisfaction with mental health services is attracting increasing attention and is now considered a key outcome variable in evaluating mental health services. The Quality Framework (Mental Health Commission (MHC)), and Vision for Change (VFC) support such evaluation. However, there are no published quantitative data from Irish users of a community mental health service.

Method: We invited outpatients attending a Dublin community mental health service to complete a standardised self-report instrument (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, CSQ-8) and provide qualitative feedback.

Results: Of the seventy-nine respondents, 80% report they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the service. However, they were critical of; access to, operation of, and communication with the mental health services.

Conclusions: Although satisfied, when given the opportunity to comment, service users can be critical of aspects of the service they receive. Only using quantitative evaluation of outpatient client satisfaction levels may fail to capture important consumer suggestions for service development. Recent recommendations and upcoming changes would address a number of the criticisms of mental health services identified in this study.