User feedback in maternity services

This report looks at what maternity services are doing locally to collect, analyse and act on user feedback. It describes the challenges of adopting the different approaches and highlights the features of organisations that are successful in user feedback activities.

User feedback in maternity services
L Wenzel, J Jabbal
The King's Fund
October 2016

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Under the scan: patients’ views of X-rays and scans in the UK

"The survey findings highlight the current lack of capacity in UK radiology services to deliver X-ray and scan results for all patients within 28 days."

Under the scan: patients’ views of X-rays and scans in the UK

The Patients Association and The Royal College of Radiologists

August 2016

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Improving the management of iron deficiency in ambulatory heart failure patients

"In an attempt to improve patient and physician satisfaction we piloted an ambulatory outpatient service to deliver iv iron. We demonstrated that this service was feasible and more efficient as less time was required waiting for a bed or spent in hospital and was less costly."

Improving the management of iron deficiency in ambulatory heart failure patients
C Hayward, H Patel, C Allen, A Vazir
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u209822.w4076

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An algorithm for predicting doctors’ risks of formal patient complaints

"The PRONE score appears to be a valid method for assessing individual doctors’ risks of attracting recurrent complaints. Regulators could harness such information to target quality improvement interventions, and prevent substandard care and patient dissatisfaction."

The PRONE score: an algorithm for predicting doctors’ risks of formal patient complaints using routinely collected administrative data
MJ Spittal, MM Bismark, DM Studdert
BMJ Quality and Safety 2015;24:360-368 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003834

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Management of Urinary Incontinence in females

"The community continence team and Gynaecologists at RCHT therefore worked together and developed an 'easy step' referral pathway for women with symptoms of UI [urinary incontinence]. This has been in use now and has now ensured a more streamlined and easy to follow guidance pathway. Overall, this has improved patient satisfaction and has improved appropriate referrals to the secondary care service thus saving costs."

Management of Urinary Incontinence in females: Are we really NICE?
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
NICE Shared Learning example
March 2015

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Public satisfaction with the NHS in 2014

"One interpretation of the increase in overall satisfaction for the NHS is that it is likely to reflect a vote of support for the NHS as an institution in difficult times."

Public satisfaction with the NHS in 2014 (British Social Attitudes 2014)
J Appleby, R Robertson
The King's Fund
January 2015

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Choice of provider and team in mental health care

"This guidance has been developed with colleagues from across the mental health sector. It seeks to promote a common understanding of what mental health patients’ legal rights are, where they apply, and what they mean in everyday practice. It should enable consistency in the application of these rights, while also acknowledging the need for clinical judgments and decisions according to the circumstances of individual patients."

GUIDANCE:Choice of provider and team in mental health care
The NHS Constitution
NHS England
December 2014

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Associations between Perceived Chronic Care Quality, Perceived Patient Centeredness, and Illness Representations among Persons with Diabetes

"Chronic care quality as defined in the Chronic Care Model and consistency of chronic care with patient expectations (patient centeredness) was associated with illness representations favorable for good self-care management."

Associations between Perceived Chronic Care Quality, Perceived Patient Centeredness, and Illness Representations among Persons with Diabetes
J Thomas, NN Iyer, WB Collins
Journal for Healthcare Quality, 2014, 36: 50–59. doi: 10.1111/jhq.12077

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Improving the primary care physicians’ decision making for fibromyalgia in clinical practice

"The use of such a tool during consultation will not only improve the quality of care in general practice but will also increase patients’ and doctors’ satisfaction and improve patients’ self-esteem and well-being." 

Improving the primary care physicians’ decision making for fibromyalgia in clinical practice: development and validation of the Fibromyalgia Detection (FibroDetect®) screening tool
R Baron et al.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2014, 12:128

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Prioritising health service innovation investments using public preferences

"Discrete choice approaches can help policy makers, those designing innovations, and decision-makers in health services make more of the public’s views on how services invest their money."

Prioritising health service innovation investments using public preferences: a discrete choice experiment
S Erdem, C Thompson
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:360

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Quality care outcomes following transitional care interventions for older people from hospital to home

"Gaps in the evidence base were apparent in the quality domains of timeliness, equity, efficiencies for community providers, effectiveness/symptom management, and domains of person and family centred care. Further research that involves the person and their family/caregiver in transitional care interventions is needed."

Quality care outcomes following transitional care interventions for older people from hospital to home: a systematic review
J Allen, AM Hutchinson, R Brown, PM Livingston
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:346

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Influence of shared medical appointments on patient satisfaction

"Patient-centered, accessible, and timely care is a vital element of quality primary care. Our findings suggest greater overall patient-reported satisfaction, superior appointment access, and enhanced sensitivity to patients’ needs with shared medical appointments as compared with the traditional encounter within primary care" 

Influence of shared medical appointments on patient satisfaction: a retrospective 3-year study
L Heyworth, R Rozenblum, JF Burgess, E Baker, M Meterko, D Prescott, Z Neuwirth, SR Simon
Annals of Family Medicine, 2014; 324-330.

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Inflammatory bowel disease audit reports

"Patients are experiencing differences in the quality of care and treatment they receive for Ulcerative Colitis (UC) according to the latest round of results from the UK Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) audit."

Inflammatory bowel disease audit reports
Royal College of Physicians, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership
June 2014

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Relationship between patient reported experience and patient reported outcomes in elective surgery

"our results have implications for the concerns of some clinicians who have questioned whether the effectiveness and safety of their practice (measured using PROMs) may instead reflect patients’ views of their level of satisfaction with the experience of care"

Relationship between patient reported experience (PREMs) and patient reported outcomes (PROMs) in elective surgery
N Black, M Varaganum, A Hutchings
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014; 23: 534-542

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The open data era in health and social care

"This report examines the current literature, drawing on case studies and published research to highlight the following value propositions for using more open data in healthcare:

• Accountability
• Choice
• Efficiency
• Outcomes
• Patient satisfaction and customer service
•  Economic growth and innovation"

The open data era in health and social care
S Verhulst, BS Noveck, R Caplan, K Brown, C Paz
The Governance Lab
May 2014

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Mental Healthwatch handbook

"This handbook provides information on how Healthwatch can help improve mental health with a range of partners including central government, service users, comissioners, providers, the voluntary sector and councils."

Mental Healthwatch handbook: Improving mental health with your community
National Survivor User Network
April 2014

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The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?

"Overall, this research suggests that despite hotly contested policy differences between the UK health systems since devolution on structure, competition, patient choice and the use of non-NHS providers, there is no evidence linking these policy differences to a matching divergence of performance, at least on the measures available across the four UK countries."

The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?
G Bevan, M Karanikolos, J Exley, E Nolte, S Connolly, N Mays
The Health Foundation, Nufffield Trust
April 2014

Find out more and access all of the resources here.

Patient reports of the outcomes of treatment: a structured review of approaches

"The purpose of this was to identify suitable candidate questions for a short instrument to tap patient evaluations of in-patient hospital interventions."

Patient reports of the outcomes of treatment: a structured review of approaches
H Lloyd, C Jenkinson, M Hadi, E Gibbons, R Fitzpatrick
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2014, 12:5

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Measuring a caring culture in hospitals

"Characteristics of the instruments included in this review could provide useful input for the design of a reliable and valid instrument for measuring a caring culture in hospitals."

Measuring a caring culture in hospitals: a systematic review of instruments
G Hesselink, E Kuis, M Pijnenburg, H Wollersheim
BMJ Open, 2013, 3:e003416

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Patients' experience and satisfaction with GP led walk-in centres in the UK

"The GP led walk-in centres increased access to GP care and most of the patients were satisfied with the service."

Patients' experience and satisfaction with GP led walk-in centres in the UK; a cross sectional study
M Arain, J Nicholl, M Campbell
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:142

Read more here.