The Countess of Chester NHS Trust has signed up to a patient reported outcomes programme run by analytical benchmarking company, CHKS.
The hospital has joined the programme in order to listen to patients’ views on the treatment it delivers, and use responses to improve processes and quality of care. Data will be used to help the hospital meet the challenges of the patient choice agenda.
Countess of Chester will use the system to obtain a more detailed picture of the outcome of hospital treatments and show the extent to which this has improved patients’ everyday lives. The intention is to use the information gained to help inform the Patient Choice agenda and provided a rounded view of clinical performance.
Patients will first be surveyed either prior to or just after admission, helping to establish a baseline position. A follow-up survey will then be carried out around three months after discharge – providing further details of perceived outcomes.
According to CHKS the information gained from the patient surveys will be linked to the hospital’s patient characteristics, diagnoses and activity database providing a rich source of information across both elective and emergency admissions.
Dr William Kenyon, medical director at Countess of Chester NHS Trust, said: “Obtaining information during a patient’s stay in hospital is fundamental to establishing a benchmark and improving standards."
He added: "The patient choice agenda means that such an approach will become increasingly important for trusts, and those that have already set processes in place from which to create a 360 degree picture of patient satisfaction will inevitably be in a stronger position to flourish in the new healthcare environment.”
CHKS’ Chief Executive, Graham Harries, said: "This project will provide a comparison of the patients’ view of their health from the point at which they are admitted to a point three months later. At present the NHS has no information as to whether a patient feels better for their treatment or not”.