Hearing the Patient′s Story

Abstract

There are many ways of endeavouring to assess patient satisfaction with health care. When planning a survey of patient views it is important to remember what the objectives of the study are ‐ is it primarily a public relations exercise or is there also commitment to action which will improve the quality of services? Some of the limitations of current survey methods are outlined, together with examples of alternative approaches from the author′s experience. It is argued that if quality is to be defined as the extent to which patient′s needs are met then only individualized patient‐centred approaches, such as critical incident interviewing and care planning, can deliver quality standards for the benefit of individual patients.