Awards for outstanding care based on patient feedback

24 Oct 2019

24 October 2019

The program, which launched in January 2019, forms part of the organisation’s commitment to putting the needs of its patients and clients first and represents its strong strategic focus on ensuring patient experience is a priority in delivering care.

Based on patients’ feedback about their care, the following categories are awarded every six months:

• Best overall hospital
• Most improved hospital
• Best ward or department
• Most improved ward or department

St John of God Health Care Group Director of Nursing and Patient Experience Dani Meinema said the Patient Experience Excellence Program was created not only to recognise caregivers delivering an excellent patient experience, but to share their methods of care with all areas of the organisation.

“It’s really important we tell our caregivers when they are doing a fantastic job, but also to learn from the outstanding care,” Dani said.

The Patient Experience Excellence Program uses data collected from a feedback mechanism, known as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey.

Patients receive an SMS message after discharge, and are asked if they would recommend the St John of God Health Care facility they have visited and the reason for their score. In addition, patients are able to complete a set of further questions related to their care based on the Australian Hospital Patient Experience Question Set.

St John of God Berwick Hospital’s Medical Unit’s NPS increased from 60.8 in the first half of 2018 to an impressive 74.3 in the second half of the year.

“After relocating, we found that our Medical Unit was struggling with a number of issues,” said Director of Nursing Mandy Fidanza.

“The executive team listened to the caregivers and together, we devised an action plan to address staffing, paperwork, stepdown management, medication management, leadership model, education and care coordination.

“Within a short space of time, rates of patient falls and caregiver absent hours dropped significantly.

“Caregiver satisfaction improved considerably and our NPS reflected that we were now creating a great experience for our patients.”

Combined with receiving safe and high quality care, feeling well cared for is a great contributor to patients scoring a hospital highly.

“Providing great clinical care is, of course, vital but when a patient feels comforted and well cared for when they are vulnerable and anxious, we know we are providing a service that meets, and goes beyond, their expectations,” Dani said.

“All caregivers play a critical role in creating these positive experiences for patients and we look forward to recognising their efforts, having the opportunity to learn from each other and continuing to provide our patients with the best possible experience.”