Patient Experience or Satisfaction Surveys
It’s now widely accepted that in addition to clinical outcomes the experience or satisfaction with the service and treatment are as important to the patient. A focus on the patient satisfaction with the treatment pathway reflects closely the quality of service delivery at the various stages and contact points. The focus in the NHS in England on quality has led to the introduction of patient satisfaction surveys alongside the more widely publicised outcome measures (patient reported outcome measures - PROMs) recently introduced for certain surgical procedures. In fact, this feedback on the “effectiveness of care the patient receives” is now being used in commissioning services and choosing between providers. The only person who can provide this feedback is the person receiving the care and ideally as close to the provision of care so to improve recall and accuracy. Patient experiences can be gathered on a range of issues such as choice of facilities, access, waiting times, cleanliness of facilities, staff communication/ politeness, understanding of therapy options and dealing with questions or complaints. Ultimately high performing groups use patient experience feedback to understand their strengths and weaknesses, make changes and re evaluate services thus completing the cycle always with the patient at the centre of care. At Patients Direct we frequently embed patient satisfaction of the treatment pathway or service into our evaluations so that clients gain a closer insight into the factors influencing patient adherence with therapy and ultimately outcomes.
