Patients share experiences for improvements

More than 7000 patients have provided feedback on their experience at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital as part of the patient reported experience measures (PREMS) trial.

The experience survey was offered in English, Mandarin and Arabic across Surgery and Perioperative Services, Cancer Care, Medicine, Women’s and Newborn Services, Critical Care and Allied Health.

Patients were invited to participate via text message two and eight days after their episode of care between August 2019 and February 2020.

The survey received 7,089 responses, with 19% of inpatients and 14% of outpatients providing feedback.

Women’s and Newborn Services received over 1000 responses including 730 comments. The feedback has contributed to the development of a staff shout-out and compliments process for patients to identify specific staff they felt went above and beyond. The patient feedback was shared in staff common areas and shared in team meetings and on a virtual honour board.

Women’s and Newborn Services also reviewed outpatient waiting times and made changes to increase the use of community spaces and provision of virtual care through phone and video calls.

The feedback also provided deeper appreciation of patient concerns about more inclusion of fathers and partners and strengthen improvements already underway. The service will continue to consider how practices and policies such as visiting hours and access to the ward can contribute to family-focused care.

The service has also used patient feedback to enhance education for administration and frontline customer service staff to deliver outstanding customer service.