Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust wins recognition in national awards.

The Trust’s Patient Experience and Involvement Team have been selected as a finalist in a national awards scheme about the way patient and staff feedback is used to improve healthcare services.

The Friends and Family Test (FFT) is a way to find out from patients, quickly and anonymously, how they rate their latest experience of NHS care or treatment. Patients can provide comments to explain their score and this feedback helps services to focus on areas that need improvement.

As most feedback is positive, the FFT also provides a well-deserved pat on the back from hard-working NHS staff. In February 493 service users left feedback on the care Trust’s services with 93% saying that they would be likely to recommend them.

The FFT Awards 2016 were set up to recognise NHS providers who are going the extra mile in their work to listen to patients and staff.  There are five categories and Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust  (BDCFT ) has made the shortlist for the FFT Champions of the Year category.

The team’s entry describes how often the ‘small things’ make the biggest difference and by the Trust monitoring the FFT feedback they have ensured the ‘small things’ are being paid attention to, for example providing decaffeinated coffee on wards and playing music in areas when people are waiting to see the Community Mental Health Team. These are just a few initiatives the Trust has made to improve patient experience.

Sallie Turner, Project Support Officer said: “Patient feedback is pivotal to good service delivery. The Patient Experience and Involvement Team work extremely hard to monitor all feedback from FFT and ensure that it is responded to in the correct manner. The team is thrilled to be nominated in this category and realise how important FFT data is to ensure the experience a BDCFT service user service is the best experience it can be.”

Almost 200 entries were received by NHS England.  Anu Singh, Director, said:  “We have rolled out the FFT across most NHS services and we wanted to take stock of how it’s working and what benefits it is actually bringing for patients.

“Through entries to the awards, we have found a rich seam of information about a whole range of improvements, great and small, that make a real difference to how patients feel about their contact with the NHS.  It is really rewarding to see the high level of appreciation that patients show for staff and to see how well many healthcare providers are listening to their patients and trying to continuously improve services.  NHS trusts also conduct a similar feedback scheme for their staff and that too is making a real difference.”

The winners will be announced at a national feedback and insight conference, organised by NHS England, on 17 March and will be simultaneously announced on the news section of the NHS England website.

To learn more about the Friends and Family Test, go to www.nhs.uk/friendsandfamily.