Patient experience is the smoke detector of patient safety

Modern day healthcare has taken on a patient-led agenda; with the NHS ‘friends and family test’ to be introduced from April 2013, patient feedback being an integral part of the revalidation of doctors and the NHS mandate’s focus on ensuring patients have a positive experience of care. Patient experience was a key theme at the MPS International Conference 2012 – Quality and Safety in Healthcare: Making a Difference.

Dr Neil Bacon, Founder of Doctors.net.uk and iwantgreatcare.org said, 'To ignore the patient’s voice is to miss the point of quality healthcare completely. Patients know when the care they are receiving is good, and they want to provide feedback to improve outcomes for others. When organisations deliver a great patient experience, they deliver safe care and good outcomes, at low cost, with high staff morale.

If we are serious about improving patient experience we must lower the barriers that may prevent patients from being able to provide feedback. Social media must be embraced in order to capture both excellence and the potential for improvement. Patient experience can be described as the ‘smoke detector of patient safety’ – without it, we do not know what dangers lie ahead.'

Tapping into patient experience was a recurring theme at the conference, as Dr Michael J Von Bertele, Chief Executive at the Picker Institute said, 'Used to its fullest potential, data on patient experiences can be used as part of process reviews to find out what needs to change to improve safety. However, data is merely a collection of numbers until you do something tangible with it. Making changes to policy in relation to negative feedback is only the tip of the iceberg – the real challenge is changing culture.'

John Tiernan, Director of Educational Services at MPS and Conference Chair says, 'MPS has long advocated the importance of strong communication as a way of improving the doctor-patient relationship, improving the outcomes for those involved and minimising claims and complaints. Patients are now very active consumers of healthcare, not just passive recipients of it; this is why focusing on their experiences was a key theme at the conference.'

The Quality and Safety in Healthcare Conference focused on patient experience, cost effectiveness of quality, creating a culture of safety, and the place of professionalism.

More information

If you would like further information about other presentations at the conference please contact Kim Watson, Press Officer on +44 207 399 1409 or email [email protected].

Notes to editors

• Around 250 delegates from around the world attended the MPS International Conference 2012 – Quality and Safety in Healthcare: Making a Difference – including Argentina, Australia, Canada, the USA, the Caribbean and Bermuda, Uruguay, Norway and Ireland, as well as the UK
• The two-day conference was held at Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 November 2012
• The Conference programme is online at www.mpsinternationalconference.org. If you would like further information about any of the presentations please contact Kim Watson
• MPS holds Communications courses and workshops to minimise risk and deliver improved patient care, including Managing Professional Interactions and Mastering Shared Decision Making. To find out more please click here
• Videos and podcasts of key speakers will be available on the MPS Media Centre this week