1. CURRENT ISSUES
1.7 Patient Surveys
1.7.1 Could the Department please supply
the Committee, under separate cover, with the full results of
all patient experience surveys carried out in the NHS in the past
three years?
1. This document summarises research that
has been conducted among NHS patients over the last five years—commissioned
by the Department of Health or CHI.
2. Full details—including technical/methodological
details and a report of survey results—can be found on the
Advice Centre for the NHS Survey Programmes website. The link
for this website is www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp—although
website links to each specific survey are also given below.
A. NATIONAL SURVEYS
OF NHS PATIENTS
3. The National Surveys of NHS patients
programme comprises a series of surveys designed to contribute
to monitoring the performance of the NHS as seen from the patients'
perspective.
4. The Government committed to this programme
in 1997 in The New NHS—Modern Dependable white paper
that proposed the introduction of regular surveys of patients
ands users to allow systematic comparisons of experience over
time and between different parts of the country.
A1. General Practice—1998 and 2002
5. The 1998 survey was the first survey
project conducted as part of an annual research programme designed
to obtain systematic information on patients' experience of the
NHS. This survey was repeated in 2002.
6. The GP surveys—which used a postal
self-completion methodology—were conducted among a national
random sample of patients selected from the Electoral Register
across 100 Health Authorities in England. The survey is designed
to help assess the quality of General Practice through the patient's
eyes, and covered a wide range of issues—including:
— Access and waiting times.
— Communication with patients.
— Patients' views of GPs' knowledge.
— Courtesy, availability and helpfulness
of other surgery staff and services—including practice nurses
and receptionists.
7. Live links to survey questionnaires,
a report of nationally aggregated results and findings at a Health
Authority level are available on the Advice Centre for the NHS
Survey Programmes website:
1998: www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=64
2002: www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=65
A2. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)—1999
8. Following on from the 1998 General Practice
survey, this was the second project conducted as part of the National
NHS Patient Survey Programme.
9. A postal methodology was employed in
this survey among a random sample of patients at 194 NHS trusts
in England. The purpose of the survey is to assess the quality
of NHS patient care, as seen by hospital patients who had been
treated for CHD. Results are analysed by seven key patient experience
"themes":
— The hospital environment.
— Co-ordination and continuity.
— Discharge and transition.
10. A live link to the survey report is
available on the Advice Centre for the NHS Survey Programmes website:
www.nhssurveys.org/show—doc.asp?id=3
A3. Cancer—1999-2000
11. This survey was the third project conducted
as part of the National Surveys of NHS Patients programme.
12. A postal methodology was employed in
this survey among a random sample of patients at 172 NHS trusts
in England. The purpose was to assess the quality of care,
as seen by NHS hospital patients diagnosed with different types
of cancer.
13. A live link to the survey questionnaire
and national report is available on the Department of Health website:
www.doh.gov.uk/nhspatients/cancersurvey/index.htm
B. NATIONAL PATIENTS
SURVEY PROGRAMME:
2001-03
14. During this period of the patient survey
programme, a more systematic and extensive patient research programme
has been developed—covering the NHS in a wide range of care
settings. In 2002, management of the survey programme has been
devolved to CHI.
15. It is important to note that research
conducted during this phase of the research programme employs
a very different methodology—which means that results are
not comparable with those conducted prior to 2001:
— Surveys are conducted by all trusts
in England.
— Following a standard procedure set
out in survey guidance, trusts survey a random sample of 850 recent
users of their service.
16. The research programme is, therefore,
designed not only to provide patient feedback on NHS services
at a national level but also to:
— Provide local feedback on
the patient experience—to be used by local trusts for quality
improvement
— Provide information for performance
ratings and CHI inspections and reviews
17. The results of the surveys are analysed
under five patient experience dimensions or themes:
— Better information, more choice.
— Building relationships.
— Clean, comfortable, friendly place
to be.
— Safe, high quality, co-ordinated
care.
Technical/methodological details—for the
following surveys are available from the Advice Centre for the
NHS Survey Programmes website:
B1. Acute Trusts: Inpatient Survey—2001-02
— www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=27
B2. Acute Trusts: Outpatient Survey—2002-03*
— www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=28
B3. Acute Trusts: Emergency Department Survey—2002-03*
— www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=29
B4. Primary Care Trust Survey- 2002-03*
— www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=31
B5. Mental Health Services Survey 2002-03**
— www.nhssurveys.org/categories.asp?parent=30
* National overview reports not available
until later in 2003.
** Due to methodological problems with this
survey, this component of the national patient survey was unable
to feed into the 2003 CHI star ratings. Trusts were advised that
this wave of the survey was entirely voluntary—but would
be compulsory in 2003-04.
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