results of patient satisfaction survey march 2010

• 91% of responses were scored as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’
• 66% of responses were scored as ‘excellent’
• 25% responses were scored as ‘very good’
• 7% responses were scored as ‘good’
• 2% responses were scored as ‘acceptable’
• 0% of responses were scored as ‘poor’

results for each question

* indicates questions asked only at Ashbourne. If the patient had given no response to a question, this was excluded from the calculations.

	poor	acceptable	good	very good	excellent
*Ease of contacting us on the phone	-	-	8%	37%	55%
*How helpful staff were on the phone	-	-	4%	32%	64%
Satisfaction with choice of day/time of appointments	-	-	9%	37%	53%
Satisfaction with your wait for an appointment	-	7%	10%	33%	50%
*The welcome of reception staff on arrival	-	-	7%	33%	60%
*The comfort of the waiting area	-	16%	18%	18%	47%
*The efficiency of reception staff	-	3%	7%	33%	57%
*The respect shown at reception for your privacy and confidentiality	-	-	29%	32%	39%
Length of wait in waiting room for your appointment	-	-	10%	38%	52%
The overall quality of the consultation with the therapist	-	-	-	21%	79%
Your confidence in the therapist’s ability	-	-	5%	19%	77%
The physio’s consideration to your personal situation	-	-	2%	17%	81%
The physio’s explanation of their findings and the treatment suggested	-	-	2%	16%	81%
Your opportunity to ask questions	-	-	5%	16%	79%
The physio’s concern for you as a person	-	-	4%	20%	76%
Would you recommend this therapist to others?	-	-	-	17%	83%

comments received from the more open questions

Firstly, patients were asked for their 4 most important aspects of a physiotherapy service from a list of 10 (or were invited to add their own ideas). The results were as follows:

Ease of contact by phone	16%
Professional service	68%
Helpful and friendly staff (Ashbourne only)	28%
Expertise of physiotherapists	68%
Relationship with local GPs	48%
Walking distance from town centre (Ashbourne only)	13%
Wide variety of appointment times available	34%
Free parking / easy access	9%
Short waiting lists (NHS) / Same or next day appointments (private)	32%
Relationship with local consultants	7%

of the aspects highlighted above, in which areas do we particularly succeed?

• 30 said expertise of physiotherapists
• 30 said professional service
• 21 Relationship with local GPs
• Short waiting time for appointments
• Easy access to Brailsford surgery from where I live
• Parking is a great asset
• Great team when you walk in reception is cheerful and professional
• Experienced physio who can diagnose the problem asap and then give the correct exercises to help
• Early diagnosis is important
• Confidence in the physio to be achieve good results
• Early and late appointments
• Approachability
• Diagnosis treatment
• Confidentiality
• Understanding the root cause of the problem
• Ability to put you at ease and empathise with situation
• Excellent staff
• Pleasant smile and helpfulness as you walk into reception

any extra comments from patients on most important aspects of the clinic

• Effective treatment enabling me to return to normal as soon as possible
• Ability to explain what may be wrong and treatment required
• Good manner with patient
• Availability of suitable waiting time
• Confidence in being listened to
• Listening
• All of the above – excellent
• Sorting the problem out
• Not giving up on me after the allotted time
• Useful advice on taking care of myself relative to the problem
• People skills it is very scary when you injure your back, within minutes of speaking to physio I felt like he genuinely cared and could help making me feel safe in his hands and less scared
• You succeed in all areas and whether I speak to the doctors or patients at Brailsford where I work, they all agree your practice is top class. Retired Dr.s too!
• The physiotherapist was extremely helpful and she has cured the conditions I had
• She has given me lots of exercises to do to make sure my condition is kept stable
• My physio is great the way she explains things along with her patience and encouragement all invaluable
• I had little confidence that physiotherapy was the route to solving my particular problem. However, although not yet cured, I have total confidence the treatment is working and will be successful
• The expertise of the physiotherapist is of paramount importance. I have found her to be well informed and informative
• Treatment has been excellent!

which areas do you feel we could improve on?

• Shorter waiting time from referral to treatment
• None that is obvious
• None
• Not giving up
• I would love to attend regularly, on a private basis, at Ashbourne to keep on top of my aches so they don’t become a problem but the parking has put me off before as I once got stuck as space limited and I am not a brilliant parker anyway!
• Everything was excellent
• More appointments at Brailsford Medical Centre
• Perhaps a “gel warmer” would be appreciated by some patients
• It took a while to get an initial consultation but it was NHS, so I was prepared for that! But it was worth the wait
• I acknowledge that space is extremely restricted, but the reception and waiting area is the weak point
• If there was room a better waiting room would be good
• Parking can be difficult but I do appreciate the situation and at least there are some spaces
• Perhaps a glass of wine in reception!!
• Heating, but it was a very cold day!
• Waiting list (NHS) with the GPS
• Shorter waiting lists but that would depend on no. of people requiring treatment at one time also the fact that you are popular and everybody wishes to be treated here
• Waiting area is claustrophobic and there is no privacy at all at reception if there are other patients waiting. Don’t know how you solve it.
• It would be beneficial to the patient if a group consultation between physiotherapists, GPs, and all concerned in overall treatment could be arranged

would you recommend Ashbourne Physiotherapy and Sports Injuries Clinic to others?

• Yes without doubt!
• Yes definitely!
• Yes, I would. I find them very friendly and helpful
• I would highly recommend and have already done so many times!
• Yes, I have done

please add other comments you wish to make

• My physiotherapist is professional in her duties
• Very pleased with the treatment and service
• Without physio and my GP I would not have come this far in recovery
• I have an ongoing problem that has been troubling me for years. I’m worried I’m going to get fobbed off in the long run and never get it sorted (not by my physio but in general)
• I am not sure it is possible but when and if an appointment is needed in the first place, it could be sooner than the initial few weeks wait to get in via GP letter. Maybe instant if private treatment. On the whole very good and do the best to fit around the patient. Good service.
• Very professional physio, easy to talk to and treats you in a very friendly way
• I think staff phoning patients with appointment should advise on what to wear, I was worried about asking a male physio if I should strip – did not want to be too forward! Physio was sweet though and I need not have been worried
• The speed of referral from GP and physiotherapist was excellent. All contact was by phone – everything was personable and professional
• My physio is an excellent physiotherapist and very friendly and helpful
• I was very impressed at expertise and professionalism
• Appropriate treatment – but it doesn’t seem to be consistent. It seems to depend which physio you are referred to how good your experience is. I spent a long time being given inappropriate exercises by a very nice physio who didn’t seem to know what was wrong. In this situation couldn’t they have consulted someone more experienced
• I have found the service to be very satisfactory and is working for me. Thank you
• I actually enjoy my appointments with my physio she is most encouraging
• Thank you for helping my back improve
• My physio has been great. The assessment was thorough. The treatment directed and specific to my fitness and goal, phone queries were promptly returned and saw me very quickly (I didn’t expect that but appreciated it!) I liked his direct manner. He is never rude but equally doesn’t beat around the bush. I have heard similar comments from several of my patients.
• Thank you for a wonderful service
• My physio is excellent and very much leads the practice by example
• Carry on the good work and pain relief. Helpful, friendly and professional
• Kindness and consideration of staff
• I found it a friendly and informal experience
• Felt at ease the whole time with reception and my therapist who is very caring, good at his work and very friendly
• The premises were not purpose built but is of little consequence if the quality of the treatment is excellent, carried out with care and concern
• I would just like to thank the physios and reception staff for all their help and especially for their caring, kind manner. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

analysis of results

There was a smaller percentage return of surveys than in previous years and we will need to consider how to improve this next year. It may prove beneficial to encourage clients to complete the surveys while still on the
premises and perhaps offer an incentive to take part.

The consistency of scores and comments over the past 3 years, keeping very high levels of satisfaction, is a tribute to all staff and the systems in place. Once again there are many comments giving high praise and 28 out of 29 of the Ashbourne respondents indicated that they would recommend the clinic to others (the remaining 1 did not answer this question).

Clients continue to rate a professional service with high staff expertise as their most valued aspects of a clinic followed by a good relationship with GP's. They also value a wide variety of appointment times and short waiting lists.

We are delighted to finally be able to address comments on the small and uncomfortable waiting area as new premises have been bought and patient comments will certainly be taken into account when designing the reception area. We will eagerly await more positive comments for this area next year. Parking issues will also be addressed with the move.

There was an interesting comment on a group consultation. We regularly liase with GP's (with patient consent) when we have concerns about patients. More complex cases may be appropriate to take to a case conference and this possibility will discussed with GP's and practice managers in the future.

The problem of demand outstripping NHS funding is unlikely to be a problem that disappears. We continue to offer NHS urgent appointments and private appointments within 2 working days (sometimes this may need to be at Ashbourne rather than at satellite clinics). We do have the capacity and flexibility to increase our service if funding allows.

action to be taken

Congratulate staff and continue to maintain the high standards already set - all staff receive a copy of the results and the questionnaires relating to their individual treatment and can see the areas most valued by
patients.

publicise the results

Actively use patients' comments to ensure that the new premises enhance the patient experience particularly in the areas of:

• Parking
• Waiting room comfort
• Reception confidentiality
• Maintaining the friendly, professional service and atmosphere that our clients have so appreciated over the past years

We acknowledge the comments on consistency of approach and strive to address this especially with less experienced staff.

We will ensure that clinic literature gives advice on appropriate clothing for assessment/treatment and that reception staff are able to clarify what patients should wear should enquiries be made.

Lorna Short
March 2010