Patient experience

Why should we involve patients and the public?

Patients and their carers are the reason the health service exists and therefore they should be at the heart of our services. Service redesign and improvement generates opportunities to involve service users who will provide us with a different perspective, so that we can better understand whether the improvements make any difference.

Patients’ experience of our service can be very different to what we intend or assume it to be and they can tell us what works, what doesn’t and what could be done better.

“No decision made about me, without me”
‘In future, patients and carers will have far more clout’
(Liberating the NHS: DH: 2010)

A framework for NHS patient experience

The Department of Health has published the NHS Patient Experience Framework, which outline the areas most important to patients’ experience of NHS services.

This framework, agreed by the National Quality Board Patient Experience sub group, provides healthcare organisations with a common evidence-based list of what matters to patients, and can be used to direct efforts to improve services. For example it can be used to help define what questions to ask patients in surveys and in real time feedback

Improving patient experience is a key aim for the NHS. Access further information about the framework.

What's been done so far?

Measuring patient experience
This Enhanced Recovery Partnership Programme document explores measuring and improving patient experience in enhanced recovery, and includes a series of patient questions identified from the 2010 National Inpatient Survey. Patient decision aids
A number of decision aids have been developed nationally, and there are many more planned. Find out more on the NHS Direct website.

Webcast
Presenter: Neil Betteridge, ERPP Public and Patient Advisor talks about improving patient experience and the benefits for patients. Download the webcast

Presentation
Patient involvement in service redesign and ongoing monitoring
The Wirral Experience and North West plans
Wendy Lewis, Enhanced Recovery Lead

Patient information prescriptions
Information prescriptions provide up-to-date, accurate information can help lessen any anxiety and confusion about health issues, and help people make informed choices about their health and well-being.