Patient satisfaction surveys made easy: Department of Health

Citation

(2008), "Patient satisfaction surveys made easy: Department of Health", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 21 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2008.06221aab.005

Patient satisfaction surveys made easy: Department of Health

Keywords: Clinical governance, Patient experience, Continuous improvement

Under the new community pharmacy contract in England and Wales, all contractors will be asked to complete an annual patient satisfaction survey, which will form one of the Clinical Governance requirements. Completion will therefore be mandatory.

PSNC and the Department of Health are deciding on the finer detail of the survey and an announcement is expected soon, but as yet there is no compulsion to conduct such a survey. Results should be fed in to PCTs by the end of the financial year – therefore the first set will be due by March 2008.

The NPA will have member support ready as soon as the announcement is made.

There are likely to be two or three options available to contractors.

1. 1.

   Print, implement and evaluate the survey yourself.

2. 2.

   Print and implement your own survey and outsource the analysis of results and reports.

3. 3.

   Outsource the print, implementation, evaluation and reporting of results.

Options (1) and (2) would only be recommended if a contractor had the time, expertise and resource in-house to cope with a survey.

When the requirement is introduced, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) will be offering its members three levels of support to match these options.

The STANDpoint system from Customer Research Technologies conducts all the research electronically and provides speedy analysis results. CRT simply delivers the device to the pharmacy and collects it two weeks later. Results are returned to contractors within the next five days.

(CFEP) UK Surveys, an independent company that specialises in producing patient feedback surveys for healthcare professionals, provides pharmacy contractors with a validated questionnaire which focuses on the five domains of patient experience as defined by the Department of Health. The completed questionnaires will be analysed and the results fed back to the contractor. The entire survey process, from encouraging patients to complete the questionnaire to the analysis and actions arising from the results, will be validated. The service includes the supply of an appropriate number of questionnaires, available in various languages, sealable envelopes to ensure patient confidentiality, in-store materials to explain the survey to patients, a ballot box, pens and a large self-addressed envelope in which to return the completed questionnaires. A high quality report of the results, including benchmarked data and patient comments will then be produced.

The NPA has also commissioned CFEP to produce a resource pack to guide its members through the complex area of patient surveys. This is a practical guide showing how to design, implement, analyse and evaluate the results of the survey.

NPA Commercial Director, Simon Ellison, says: “A resource pack will be available to members free of charge. However, we are aware that members may need different levels of support and the NPA is committed to providing services to meet those needs as precisely as possible. We are confident that these three levels of service will provide every member with what they need to meet their obligations under the pharmacy contract. More than that, we are confident that the feedback members will gain from their patients will mean that they gain a high return on their investment.”

Raina Jordan, NPA Commercial Manager adds: “Patient surveys are completely new to community pharmacy so the NPA wants to ensure that the route members choose when carrying out a patient satisfaction survey suits their needs. If you would like advice on which level of support may be best for your needs or to register your interest in readiness for the announcement, please contact us on r.jordan@npa.co.uk”.