Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong ELY, Ma JCH, Cheung AWL, Hung CT, Yeoh EK
Affiliation :
Centre for Health systems and Policy Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Introduction :
Monitoring patient experience is essential to drive caring in healthcare settings and the sustainable development of person-centred care. The first Patient Experience Survey (PES) of the specialist outpatient clinic (SOPC) was conducted in 2014 and then followed in 2018.
Objectives :
The third PES was conducted in 2021 and aimed to evaluate the patient experience for service improvement.
Methodology :
A corporate-wide cross-sectional survey was conducted between July 2021 and January 2022. Service users from 26 HA specialist outpatient clinics were randomly recruited for the telephone survey. The patient experience questionnaire, which was a validated and reliable short-form instrument in Hong Kong (namely Short-form Specialist Outpatient Experience Questionnaire, SF-SOPEQ), encompasses eight aspects of the patient journey at the specialist outpatient clinic, including (1), (2), (3),. (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8). Each response option was codified into a score range from 0 to 10, with the best option set at 10. An overarching item was also included to evaluate the patient’s overall experience. Mean scores were calculated to evaluate care performance as overall. T-tests were used to compare experience scores between the current and previous round in 2018.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 13,393 patients participated in the survey. The mean score of patient experience was 7.9 (range: 7.6-8.5) and it was the same as that in 2018 PES. Areas including being treated with respect, doctor’s caring, medication information, caregiver information, and hygiene obtained more positive feedback. Comparatively poor results were found in the information on feedback channels, patient involvement, staff self-introduction, and the information on danger signals but they were improved compared with the results of 2018. In addition, the experience of patient-staff (doctors, allied health professionals, and healthcare assistants) interactions was further improved compared to the previous round.
The findings suggest that local specialist outpatient services in public settings continue to improve on aspects of information provision and patient-centred healthcare. Patients have also maintained a high appreciation for healthcare professionals, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
