Transcript Patient Opinion in an Acute Trust

Philip Dylak
DIRECTOR OF NURSING
Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Trusts with the best record of responding
to comments on the internet –Dr Foster
Hospital Guide 2011:
Burton Hospitals NHS Trust 100%
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust 100%
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 100%
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 100%
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Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 99%
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Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust 98%
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 97%
North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 96%
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 94%
Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust 94%
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“Take note of what other patients say on the web
about their care. It provides a valuable insight. In
some cases, more than three-quarters of patients
commenting say they would not recommend their
hospital. In others, over 90 per cent would”.
Dr Foster “10 Things we have learned this year” (Dr Foster, 2011)
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Goes back a number of years – SHA funded
subscriptions to Patient Opinion for North
West Trusts as part of patient engagement
initiative
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Tameside Hospital was having some adverse
press at the time – would it improve or
worsen the situation?
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Soon became clear that this was up to us
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We believe that people making a posting on
Patient Opinion – placing their comments
about a service in the public domain – deserve
and expect a response from the organisation
Unless you are certain it is appropriate, don’t
use phrases like - “Please contact our
complaints dept. or PALS”
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If people can access the website for Patient
Opinion, they can access your hospital’s
website and post comments to PALS or
complaints for themselves
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That’s the right thing to do – electronic
communications don’t have to be cold and
functional
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It will encourage more people to post
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Don’t give a bland response
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If they praise staff, tell them you will bring it to
staff’s attention and why staff will value that –
make sure you do
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If they refer to a current problem – e.g service
disrupted by building works, don’t be coy –
acknowledge it – it might inform other people too
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If you genuinely cannot address their issue without
knowing who they are, don’t use that as an excuse not
to deal with it – invite them to make contact with you
and give a range of contact options
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If you can, say what you will do – or better still have
done - with the information they have given –
“The Maternity Unit staff have identified a more suitable place for partners to wait
and that area currently being redecorated. Signposts have also been ordered”
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Try to respond within 2 days
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This may allay anxieties for other people who
may have the same issues
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We keep an ongoing log – no posting is on for
more than a week without a response
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There are a number of Patient Opinion tools
you can use
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You can design your own tools – like this one
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In training sessions about communications or
service improvement
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To know what your service users think about
your services
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To offset unjustified criticism
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As part of your Trust’s overall understanding of
user perceptions
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We piggy back messages onto our postings:Would you like to help the hospital to improve its services further? We are currently looking for
patients and carers to become involved in a development called “Patient Stories”. We want to
know more about our services from the point of view of those who received them – what was
good, bad, what could be improved, what should be changed. Want to know more about
what’s involved?
Please contact Philip Dylak, Director of Nursing at [email protected]
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Patient Opinion can help you get the most
out of being involved
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Make someone senior in the organisation
responsible for managing it
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Make your responses meaningful and
relevant
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Use the data you get to understand what
your patients want