Friends and family test pilot goes live

The pilot of the NHS friends and family test has now gone live in Norfolk and Waveney for A&E and primary care, and in Suffolk for PTS, with 130,000 questionnaires sent to ambulance stations for staff to give to patients. 

The form should be left with every patient to complete in their own time, and return to us. The postage is pre-paid so the patient does not have to pay. We need to survey all ‘see and treat’ 999 patients (i.e. those we do not convey), all patient transport service (PTS) patients and all patients who we have a face to face contact with in the primary care service, such as in a primary care centre or at a home visit. 

Please also ensure you write the applicable number at the top of the form, before giving it to the patient: with 999 patients this would be the CAD number, with PTS the journey identifying number and with primary care the case number. The patient experience team who receive the completed questionnaires do not have access to patients’ details even though they will be able to see the number. The number will only be used in rare circumstances if a patient makes a serious complaint that we will need to investigate. 

We have already received a few forms back, and the over whelming response has been positive feedback about staff and the care that the patient has received. 

The pilot will run until Christmas and will then be assessed before roll out across the Trust, which is expected to happen in late January. 

If you have any questions in relation to the implementation of the FFT feedback form, please contact the Trust’s patient experience team either by telephone on 01603 422757 or alternatively by email: surveys@eastamb.nhs.uk.

 Published 27th November 2014