The Hospital Authority (HA) will launch a Patient Experience Survey next Monday (July 23) at its 26 Specialist Outpatient Clinics to better understand patients' experiences, feelings and feedback for further enhancement of service quality.
 
     The HA spokesperson today (July 19) said the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care of the Chinese University of Hong Kong has been commissioned to conduct the survey. Patients attending the selected specialist clinics will be randomly recruited for a telephone interview. The survey will take around five months to complete and will cover the following aspects:
 

1. Efficiency;
2. Environment and Facilities;
3. Doctor-patient Relations; and
4. Feedback Handling.

     "Patients' consent will be sought before commencement of the telephone interview and personal data will be handled in strict confidence. Patients are free to withdraw at any time from the survey in case they change their mind," the spokesperson said.
 
     The HA appealed to patients to participate in the survey. "Continuous quality improvement is an integral part of corporate governance. We always treasure patients' views on hospital services. To continuously enhance our service quality, healthcare professionals should have a better understanding on patients' needs. The feedback from patients will definitely help in mapping out our service directions as well as formulation of improvement initiatives," the spokesperson stressed.
 
     The first Patient Experience Survey was launched in 2010. To facilitate ongoing monitoring of patient service quality, the HA will continue to conduct HA-wide inpatient as well as specialist outpatient or specialty-based surveys at regular intervals.

Ends/Thursday, July 19, 2018
Issued at HKT 10:00

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