Patient Safety - Pilot Study 2013

Patient Safety – The Patient Experience  

Patient participation is important in improving quality and safety in healthcare. In 2013, the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (ISQSH) completed a pilot study of primary care looking at the patient’s overall experience, and gathered information including how long a patient has been attending their GP, patient experience in contacting their GP by phone, the length waited to see their GP and patient confidence and trust in out of hours GP services.

Chief Executive Dr Hilary Dunne explains the benefit of such research, the need to empower patients to provide them with real opportunities to voice their opinions in an independent way, and what the patient experience can teach us about primary care in Ireland.