In our recent articles, we have been exploring the complex relationship between pharmacies, patient experience, and patient feedback. We understand how difficult it can be to collect the feedback for the Family and Friends Test (FFT) and the Community Pharmacy Patient Questionnaire (CPPQ). This is why we support pharmacies to make the process of collecting and analysing feedback as easy as possible, using various tools that make it less onerous and more effective.
It is clear that pharmacies and other healthcare providers, such as clinical homecare services, are unable to deliver a high standard of service without understanding the perspective of their patients. The use of bespoke feedback solutions that make it straightforward for their service users to provide feedback is essential.
“Without the user-friendly solutions that we provide, our partners would be basing business decisions on limited customer information. We are proud to be able to deliver insight that has a long-term impact for our partners and their customers,” said We Love Surveys CEO Helen Dargie.
1) The first article in the series focuses on Improving the patient experience: Why empowering pharmacy users to give feedback is essential for community pharmacies to thrive
In it, we explore how our community pharmacies have provided outstanding, essential support to patients during the pandemic when our healthcare service was stretched beyond what was ever thought possible. By adapting to a changing need and reducing the pressure placed upon GPs and hospitals, it is clear they have made and continue to make, a huge difference.
Establishing community pharmacies as the first port of call for minor health concerns or queries will mean a long hoped-for step change in how health services are delivered to patients. We Love Surveys firmly believe that a robust process for gathering feedback will allow each pharmacy in the UK to tailor their service offer, based on unique local circumstances and clear evidence of needs, providing benefits for years to come.
2) The second article is about how mandatory survey requirements within community pharmacies can benefit service users, pharmacy teams, and wider communities
In this article, we took a dive into the wide variety of benefits to the annual surveys such as the CPPQ that community pharmacies are required to complete. These range from improving patient care to tailoring the specific services that are offered at each pharmacy. Feedback is the key to success in this area. For example, if the patient surveys reveal that users of community pharmacies do not feel there are adequate private spaces to discuss sensitive subjects with staff, that is something that could be actively improved which and allows the pharmacy to remain at the core of the community.
3) Throughout the final article, ‘How effective feedback can enhance the clinical homecare sector and support service users’ we focused on the essential services offered by clinical homecare that are vital for these patients. Feedback can provide the data needed to tailor services to the patient’s needs, ensuring continuous improvement.
The NCHA defines clinical homecare as “the services that often revolve around the provision of specialist medicines which patients administer themselves at home with appropriate support and training. Some clinical homecare services also include healthcare professionals visiting patients at home to provide support and training or regular home visits to administer medications.” This form of healthcare supports service users and patients with additional needs or specialist medication requirements that they might find difficult to access in community pharmacies. Read our case study that outlines the work we have done with Alcura.
Final Thoughts
The team at We Love Surveys is here to support the pharmacy industry and clinical homecare sector. We ensure you ask the right questions of your patients, collecting valuable information needed to make actionable changes. We understand the challenges and we’re proud to be part of the solution, through the design and creation of bespoke feedback solutions that are tailored to your goals.
We work with you to recommend the best feedback solution for your pharmacy, starting your journey to better, informed decision making and placing your patients and customers at the heart of what you do. To learn more about us and how we can support your business, get in touch today.