Policy Hub
On 22 May 2009, the Department of Health published a guide (Understanding what matters: a guide to using patient feedback to transform services) which seeks to help the NHS harness the information it gathers, providing “immediate feedback” from patients to drive service improvement.
The guide sets out best practice in terms of collecting, analysing and using patient feedback to transform services. It shows how the range of different sources of patient experience information can be an integral part of local quality improvement systems, and highlights the importance of involving staff in the whole process.
Specifically, the guide focuses on the lowest tiers of the quality pyramid, where the emphasis is on local action and ownership. It also includes examples of how the NHS is already using feedback from patients to enhance performance.
Understanding what matters: a guide to using patient feedback to transform care (PDF)