An annual survey measuring customer satisfaction nationwide logged the most positive results since its inception in 2007, with the healthcare as well as finance and insurance sectors leading the way.

Emerging top in the survey was Alexandra Hospital, managed by JurongHealth, which saw a double digit growth of 10.6 per cent in the customer satisfaction score compared to the previous year. Other companies which fared well included Standard Chartered, Citibank and Great Eastern Life.

The National Customer Satisfaction Index is compiled by the Institute of Service Excellence at Singapore Management University (ISES). The institute interviewed 22,314 households and 6,080 departing tourists last year.

On Tuesday, the ISES also released the results of the latest surveys for the healthcare as well as finance and insurance sectors conducted in the last quarter of last year. Both sectors saw an improvement from 2011.

In particular, restructured hospitals and polyclinics fared much better in meeting their patients' expectations while foreign banks leapfrogged over the local banks with their customer satisfaction scores - the opposite of the results in the 2011 study.

The director of ISES, Ms Caroline Lim, said the results were encouraging and it was heartening to see companies stepping up their game to focus more on customers.

"The last couple of years have pitted Singapore businesses in a challenging operating climate of escalating costs and labour crunch," she said.