Objective To compile and analyse the replies to questionnaires on patient satisfaction as a major parameter of quality assessment in the setting of a single neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) over a 5-year period.

Methods The NICU of Hillel Yaffe Medical Centre (Hadera, Israel) has utilised the ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management system since 2007. The responses of the neonates’ parents to a satisfaction questionnaire throughout a 5-year period were retrieved and analysed.

Results The responses to a total of 1223 satisfaction questionnaire were available for analysis. Most of the parents were satisfied with the service, and some of them suggested improvements in features whose shortcomings were unknown to us and could easily be remedied for the most part.

Conclusions The replies to the questionnaire identified components of care that parents found to be satisfactory and others that they wished could be changed. A satisfaction questionnaire is an easy tool for the improvement of service, and the use of the one we constructed and describe is recommended to guide the enhancement of quality medical care in an NICU.