Patients using Bradford District Care Trust’s services are giving positive feedback through the Friends and Family Test (FFT).

The community and mental health provider launched the FFT in November 2014 and has seen over 180 patients answer a simple question about the care they have received.

87% of patients said that they would recommend the Care Trust to friends or family if they needed similar care or treatment.

Tracey Corner, Friends and Family Test Lead at the Care Trust, said: “Thank you to everybody who has taken the time to respond to FFT. Every comment we receive is looked at in detail and given back to the appropriate team to help improve patient experience.

“88% of the comments we have received are all positive. A lot relate to staff’s positive attitude, with people commenting on the support they have been given. Our staff spend a lot of time making sure that the patient and their carer is at the heart of what we do through customer care training and embracing the NHS England’s compassionate care programme.”

Staff at the Care Trust are using a number of ways to ask the question. This includes providing patients with a hand held device at the end of their appointment to ‘tap in’ their answer, or handing patients a card with a web address so that they can complete at a later date.

Responding to the FFT question is simple, free, voluntary and anonymous.  Care will not be affected in any way

The FFT is the biggest collection of patient views. It is already being used in NHS acute in-patient, maternity, A&E departments and GP Practices. All mental health and community services across the country joined the Care Trust in asking the question on 1 January 2015.

ENDS