Patient surveys, interviews and focus groups
Patient feedback
There are a number of reasons for eliciting feedback from
patients and the public. For example, you might want to carry out a
survey to find out what people think about your service, or perhaps
run a focus group to explore a certain issue in-depth. Some
services have "patient panels" who work with the management team on
key decisions. If you are planning a new service, or changing
the way you provide an existing service, you may be required
by law to involve service-users in this process (see Section 242
link on the left of this page).
Trust approval process - surveys and semi-structured
interviews
UHBW surveys being carried out with patients/members of the
public for service evaluation or audit purposes, need to be
approved by the Trust's Questionnaire, Interview & Survey Group
(QIS) before they are carried out. Surveys being carried out as
part of a formal research project will need to be approved by a
Research Ethics Committee (see link on the left hand side of this
page). The purpose of QIS is to:
- Ensure that all patient and public survey activity is of a
high quality.
- Ensure that there is a central record of any survey activity
within the Trust.
- Identify potential overlap and links between different
projects.
- Record any Focus Group and Unstructured Interviews that are
taking place in the Trust.
In order to carry out a survey or interview you will need
to email your questionnaire, QIS submission form, and covering letter to
experience@uhbw.nhs.uk.
We strongly encourage the use of pre-validated questions from
the Picker Institute patient experience question bank wherever
possible (see Survey Tips and Useful Links section on the left
hand side of this page). If your questionnaire is made up of
questions from the Picker Insitute questionnaires then you will
usually be eligible to have your survey fast-tracked through the
QIS process.
For surveys which don't use these pre-approved questions, QIS
will review your questionnaire / methodology electronically. It is
usual for further changes to be requested following the meeting
and these fall into the following categories: Approved,
Approved with amendments, Resubmit and Not approved.
QIS review submissions electronically. Once your project has
been approved you will be given a QIS number and you will can start
your survey.
Focus groups/unstructured interviews
If you are conducting a focus group or unstructured interview as
part of a service evaluation or audit, you should contact Tony
Watkin (tony.watkin@uhbw.nhs.uk
/ 0117 342 3729), who will be able to provide general advice and
will also notify QIS that your project is taking place.
These do not have to go through the formal QIS process
described above but are noted on our database.
Staff surveys
Staff surveys do not fall under the remit of QIS (which has a
patient focus) and should be reviewed and approved by the relevant
department manager in the first instance.
Diagnostic / treatment questionnaires
Standardised questionnaires used as a diagnostic or treatment
tool for an individual patient (rather than to draw wider
inferences about a patient group or population) are for use at the
discretion of the clinician responsible for that patient's care and
do not require QIS approval.
Information Governance and Data Protection
It is the responsibility of the project lead (i.e. the
lead person carrying out the survey, interview, or focus
group) to ensure that the Trust's Information Governance and
Data Protection policies are adhered to at all times. Further
information can be found on the Trust's intranet:
http://connect/governanceandquality/informationgovernance/Pages/default.aspx
