This in from the IW NHS, in their own words. Ed
NHS Isle of Wight Provider Services are carrying out a survey to find out what patients really think about the care they receive when they attend an Outpatients appointment.
Feedback from the survey will be used to improve patients’ experiences identifying areas where Outpatient services perform well and areas where there is room for improvement.
Random selection of patients being surveyed
A random selection of 850 patients who have recently attended an Outpatients appointment at St. Mary’s Hospital or other outpatient clinics on the Island may receive a questionnaire by post during July asking about their experiences.
The questionnaire asks about various aspects of care including what happened before the appointment, arrival at the hospital, the quality of care and treatment received, communication with doctors, nurses and other staff, information provided and the hospital environment.
National programme by Care Quality Commission
Every NHS Hospital Trust in England is carrying out this survey as part of a national programme led by the Care Quality Commission.
This survey is part of the commitment set out in the NHS Constitution to design a health service around the needs of the patients.
NHS Isle of Wight Chief Nurse Carol Alstrom says: “We hope that our patients will take the time to help us with this survey. Patient views are vital in helping us to find out how we are doing and how we can improve. This is an excellent way for patients to help shape the services we provide in the future.”
This is a National, centrally coordinated survey that will allow NHS Isle of Wight to compare results with other NHS organisations. Results from the last survey in 2009 helped to identify areas where there was room for improvement and also where good practice could be shared.
Independent surveyors
The survey form is returned to an organisation independent of NHS Isle of Wight to ensure that respondents can remain anonymous.
The results of the survey will be presented in a form that does not allow any individual’s answers to be identified.
The results will be published early in 2012 on the Care Quality Commission website and on the NHS Isle of Wight website.
Reports on the quality of NHS Isle of Wight Services are made to Board meetings on a regular basis and can be viewed online.
Image: freddyfromutah under CC BY 2.0
