Yorkton Regional Health Centre is one of 14 hospitals around the province taking part in an emergency department (ED) patient survey pilot project starting this week.
The project, conducted by the province's Health Quality Council and the health regions, will run for two months, after which an expansion into continuous testing of all EDs is planned to begin.
"The advantage of working with the Health Quality Council is that there's consistency around the province in the surveying and the survey tools, and the Health Quality Council has the expertise to help us in preparing surveys that will provide valuable information to improve the health system," says Sharon Tropin, Sunrise Health Region's director of communications.
As of January 18, all patients visiting Yorkton's emergency room receive a handbill explaining the nature of the survey along with information on opting out. In the weeks that follow, a randomly selected sample of patients will receive the survey in the mail.
The survey's questions cover seven aspects of a patient's experience: arrival, interaction with doctors, interaction with nurses, tests, pain control, discharge instructions/planning, and overall impressions.The information provided will be used to identify areas of improvement for the department that are difficult to determine by other means, says Tropin.
"For instance, a patient may have very good health outcomes, but they may feel that their experience was not satisfactory."
Changes that might result include additional staff training or a modification of the emergency department's workflow.
