Understanding the perspectives of health service staff on the Friends and Family Test.

Conclusions Majority of respondents based their perceptions on personal expectations, with smaller numbers citing personal experience and hearsay. Staff would need to see changes both in the quality of care and management practice to amend their recommendation on the Friends and Family Test.What is known about the topic? The Friends and Family Test is seen as a useful tool to gather the opinions of patients and staff on the patient experience, yet there has been little validation of this question.What does this paper add? The present study suggests that, as currently worded, the question does not reliably report staff perceptions regarding patient experience. The study illustrates that the relationship with the organisation and perceptions of effective management are linked to staff responses.What are the implications for practitioners? The Family and Friends Test question may need to be more clearly focused to gather the desired information. Improvement on this indicator is only likely to be seen when management teams are meeting the expectations of staff for good management practice. PMID: 26387081 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research