Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Report of Patient Satisfaction with Adult Audiology Services Conducted January 2017
Index SUMMARY BACKGROUND COVERAGE QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS - Accessibility RESULTS Surroundings RESULTS - Information Provision RESULTS Professionalism of Staff RESULTS Overall Care and Treatment Received RESULTS - Deaf Awareness CHANGES REQUESTED APPENDIX Questionnaire 2
SUMMARY This report reviews the responses, to a patient satisfaction questionnaire, from 172 patients accessing the Adult Audiology Services provided at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board during January 2017 A representative number of attendees at Cardiff and West Quay Clinics in Adult Audiology were surveyed. This report has been sent to the Clinical Director, Directorate Manager and General Manager. A summary of findings will be posted on the Audiology Departmental Website, and on the notice boards at all Adult Hearing Services clinics. 3
BACKGROUND Around 6000 patients access hearing aid fittings, reassessments & hearing therapy appointments, a further 2000 reviews are carried out together with 11000 open access repair & servicing appointments across the three sites that provide adult Audiology Services within Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board each year. The Department provides support to ENT and Audiovestibular Medicine Clinics, providing a further 6000 hearing tests per year. All hearing, tinnitus and Balance referrals from 16 years of age upwards are triaged to Audiology, hearing aids are fitted as required and all patients reviewed within 12 weeks. Patients are able to self refer for reassessment or second hearing aid fittings. Patients are able to access the service for hearing aid repairs and ear moulds at short notice. Good practice guidelines encourage Audiology Services to audit patient satisfaction on a regular basis. This survey for Cardiff and Vale University Hospital Board was carried out in January 2017 using a slightly modified version of the Patient Satisfaction Survey published as part of the Quality Standards for Adult Audiology Services. The survey focused purely on Audiology Services, and as such, did not involve the Ear Nose and Throat, or Audiovestibular Medicine Departments, or their services. COVERAGE A representative sample of all the attendees at the Adult Audiology Departments in January 2017, were surveyed. Ages 16 to 90+ years of age were included in the survey, across both the University Hospital site in Cardiff and the West Quay site in the Vale to ensure a broad spectrum of views were represented. Methodology The questionnaires were given the first 200 patients, who accessed the Audiology services in January 2017. The receptionists were asked to give the questionnaire to the patient at the end of the appointment, and to request that it be completed and returned to Reception before leaving the Department. In order to cover the cross section of patient groups, questionnaires were provided for each category of appointment as below: Hearing Aid Fittings WQ 5 UHW 37 Hearing Aid Reassessments WQ 2 UHW 15 Hearing Aid Reviews WQ 11 UHW 38 Hearing Therapy WQ 4 UHW 43 Hearing Aid Repairs WQ 4 UHW 10 The questionnaire did not survey patients attending for the Adult Cochlear Implant Programme. QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire used in 2017 was devised specifically for use with patients accessing Audiology services and was published as part of the Quality Standards for adult Audiology Services. 4
The questionnaire was modified slightly to include the one area of change in service provision, to address two complaints received in this fiscal year, and to encourage free text and meaningful opinions. Respondents were asked to comment on key features of their appointments covering the necessary elements in the Standards.ie: Accessibility; Information; Professionalism; Care and Treatment and Overall Service: Respondents were asked to base their responses on all of the appointments they had received over the past few months. 5
RESULTS SUMMARY TABLE Very Dissatisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Satisfied Very satisfied Communicating with the department 0 7 43 122 Time waited for an appointment 0 6 63 103 Postal service 0 0 17 47 Years supply of batteries issued centrally 0 0 30 100 Welcome at reception 0 2 61 106 Appearance/comfort of rooms 0 5 76 88 Written information 0 2 38 107 Verbal information 0 0 21 146 Staff Professionalism 0 0 25 146 Opportunities for discussion 0 0 21 149 Assessment and treatment 0 0 21 148 Never Rarely Sometimes Always Ability to hear your name when called 0 0 13 126 Of the 172 questionnaires completed, there were only 31 comments made in the free text section, where patients were asked to state one improvement they would like to make to the Audiology Service. Of these only 8 requested an improvement in services. 6
1. ACCESSIBILITY This section looked at the comments received with regards to communicating with the Audiology Service; on how long they had to wait for, and at, their appointment. Communicating With the Department - Responses Received 172: Generally there is a reasonable level of satisfaction with accessing the service: 96% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied with accessibility 4% of patients being somewhat dissatisfied with accessibility Of the 8 needs for improvement comments, 3 related to patients having difficulty getting through on the telephone. Action Taken: Telephonist staff increased from 75 hours per week to 90 hours. Open access now in place to free up time spent on the telephone booking repairs The Time You Waited For An Appointment Responses Received 172 There is a very high level of satisfaction in the waiting time for an appointment: 97% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied with the wait time. 3% of patients being somewhat dissatisfied. Of the 8 need for improvement comments, none related to patients feeling they waited too long for their appointment. The Postal Service for Repairs & Batteries Responses Received 64 There is a very high level of satisfaction with the Departments postal service, with 100% of patients who use the service being very satisfied/satisfied. Significant reduction in postal repairs has been noted with the introduction of open access repair services at both Cardiff & The Vale. A Years Supply of Batteries Being Issued Centrally - Responses Received 130 100% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied with an annual supply being provided centrally. 2. SURROUNDINGS This section looked at the welcome patients received at reception and their satisfaction with the appearance and comfort of rooms within the Department. Welcome at Reception- Responses Received 169 There is a high level of satisfaction with the welcome received at reception. 97% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied with the welcome at reception. 3% of patients being somewhat dissatisfied. Of the 8 need for improvement comments, none related to patients feeling they did not have a good welcome at reception. Appearance & Comfort of Rooms- Responses Received 169 There is a high level of satisfaction with the appearance & comfort of rooms. 7
97% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. 3% of patients being somewhat dissatisfied. Of the 8 need for improvement comments, two related to patients feeling that the waiting room is shabby and some rooms being very small. Action taken: Plans are underway to move services into locality clinics, which will enable only the larger clinical rooms at UHW to be used. It has been noted that the carpet in the waiting room is in need of replacement and this will be brought to the attention of the Directorate. 3. INFORMATION This section looked at the information received both verbal and written. Written Information- Responses Received 147 There is a high level of satisfaction with the written information provided: 99% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. 1% of patients being somewhat dissatisfied. Of the 8 need for improvement comments, two related to patient requesting more written information regarding his hearing loss, specific instruction manual. Action taken: All staff to be reminded of available written resources at next staff meeting, and reminded to offer IMP-Individual Managerment Plan at every appointment. Verbal Information- Responses Received 167 There is a high level of satisfaction with the verbal information provided: 100% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. 4. PROFESSIONALISM OF STAFF This section asked respondents to rate the professionalism of the Audiology Reception staff and the Audiologists. The professionalism of Staff- Responses Received 171 There is an extremely high level of satisfaction with the professionalism of staff: 100% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. Response: It was pleasing to receive such positive feedback from this section of the questionnaire. These patient reports will be fed back to staff at the next monthly meeting. 8
5. OVERALL CARE & TREATMENT This section asked respondents to rate their overall care and treatment. Opportunities to Discuss Problems/Difficulties- Responses Received 170 There is an extremely high level of satisfaction with discussion opportunities: 100% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. Assessment & Help With Hearing Difficulties- Responses Received 169 There is an extremely high level of satisfaction with assessment & help: 100% of patients being very satisfied/satisfied. Response: It was pleasing to receive such positive feedback from this section of the questionnaire. These patient reports will be fed back to staff at the next monthly meeting. One comment was received that it would be nice to see the same Audiologist everytime Action If patients request to see a particular audiologist every effort will be made to accommodate this request, but this cannot be guaranteed. 6. Deaf Awareness Responses Received 139 91% reported they always heard their name when called 9% sometimes heard when their name was called Action Taken: To investigate visual call system. Comments on Responses: 164 respondents requested no change to the existing service they received, with 23 positive comments being received:- Very happy with service, nothing too much trouble Everything perfect! Staff are very welcoming at put you at ease Very good two comments An excellent service, many thanks All staff are very good Staff always helpful Great friendly professional care V. happy V happy and staff very helpful today All satisfactory Waiting time in reception good! Happy with service provided Great advice on sore ears Easier to have ears syringed than go to GP Staff excellent in explaining everything to me, thank you for your care All good Very satisfied Brilliant 9
Excellent service Good service Very pleased 8 respondents requested some change as below: Contacting department by telephone - 3 comments Room sizes 1 comment Shabby waiting room 1 comment Continuity of care 1 comment Provision of IMP & instruction manual 2 comments Response It was very pleasing to know that such a high percentage of respondents are very satisfied with the overall Audiology service received. All negative comments are taken seriously and will form next years action plan for service improvement. Actions From last year Open access now in place Telephonist cover increased 10
CONCLUSIONS A representative number of service users were surveyed, including the range of services provide. The age range was between 16 and 90+ years of age. For areas that registered a small amount of dissatisfaction, steps have or will be taken to improve services, as far as is practical. The Department strives to provide the best care possible for each patient seen and continues to make improvements to services. We are also very keen to receive feedback from our patient forum group. 11