A narrative review of patient experience within Health Care (Primary Care and Secondary Care) in the United Kingdom: Data collection methods, challenges and applicability in informing health care decisions.

Abstract

This narrative review aims to summarize evidence concerning patient experiences in UK healthcare, including how the collected data is used to improve the quality of care and safety across primary and secondary care services. The author conducted a narrative review of existing literature on patient experience and the use of patient experience data to improve the quality of clinical care in the general practice and secondary practice domains of English National Health Services. The review suggested that today, patient experience has become recognized as one of the three pillars of quality across health organizations. This is reflected by the prevalence of various national tools to collect patient survey data led by the National Health Service (NHS). Every year, NHS collects patient experience data in primary and secondary care settings and uses the information to analyze the performance and quality of care delivery across healthcare organizations. Although the NHS has provided information on patient experiences in UK health organizations through surveys in the last decade, only some healthcare providers use the data to improve quality. More than collecting data on patient experiences is required; these data must be utilized accordingly to improve patient safety and data.