WIREDGOV

A new Welsh Government-backed pilot to collect valuable feedback about patients' experiences at Wrexham Maelor Hospital began yesterday. 

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will work with iWantGreatCare project to test a new and robust way of collecting feedback from patients who use the hospital's services.

iWantGreatCare is an independent company which collects reviews and ratings from patients, carers and families about NHS hospitals, GP surgeries, doctors, dentists, physiotherapists and clinics.

During the pilot, when patients are discharged from certain services at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, they will be asked to complete an online survey or paper-based feedback form to rate their experience. This feedback will be reported in real-time so issues can be acted on immediately.

The services taking part in iWantGreatCare are medical and surgical wards, antenatal, labour and postnatal services.

The iWantGreatCare methodology makes it easy for NHS organisations to act on the feedback they receive from patients and their families to improve care and services. Wards will receive a weekly report so that good care can be congratulated and areas of improvement can be identified and acted upon.

Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford said:

“This pilot is a unique way of collecting information about what patients really think about the treatment and care they are receiving at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. It gives staff the opportunity to listen to what patients are telling them and see how they can continue to improve.”

Margaret Hanson, vice chair of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said:

“We want all of our patients to have great care. Feedback can help drive service improvement and boost staff morale by motivating staff to take forward service improvements.

“It is vital that we get patient and carer contributions to help the health board improve local health services.

“iWantGreatCare will be invaluable to us so that we can improve services and take immediate action when things go wrong."

This is the first time iWantGreatCare will be used to collect patient feedback about hospital services in Wales. However, iWantGreatCare has been successfully used to collect families' experiences of palliative care services - and improve the services provided - for many years in Wales