Urgh! Another survey…

In the past 7 months, I have encountered hospital services twice. Each time, I have been given a survey to complete.  One was after the birth of my son – definitely not a time when you want another piece of paper flung at you – and the other was when I took my friend to A&E after she had cut her hand quite severely.

The questions on the (badly-photocopied) piece of paper ranged from the cleanliness of the hospital to the politeness of the staff… but then came a question that I was not expecting: “Would you recommend this service to a friend or family member?”

Both times this question stumped me.

On 30th July, the NHS launched the results of the Friends and Family test.  This test is part of the Department of Health’s Information Strategy, which looks to help share information on the NHS and Health and Social Care Services.

From now on, results of this test will be published every month on the NHS Choices website.  In most cases, doctors and nurses will receive feedback on their specific department within a week of the survey being taken.

This follows the example of TripAdvisor. Launched 13 years ago, they have more than 100m hotel reviews. In a city like New York, there are more than 90,000 people each day giving feedback on local services.

Hopefully, by implementing systems such as these and harnessing the learning from the surveys, the NHS will start to see vast improvements.

So, next time you’re given a piece of paper in hospital, remember that this isn’t just another survey!