Tariq Drabu Affair and Media Department Survey

One of the first tasks for the Tariq Drabu affair and media department has been to gain feedback from service users of our specialist services. This has been in the form of a written questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to previous service users of the specialist oral surgery service that has been running at Langley Dental Practice since 2004. The survey focused on three key areas:

1. The patient experience following referral and prior to the initial consultation appointment.
2. The patient experience at consultation.
3. The patient experience at treatment.

In terms of questioning about the experience around the referral and prior to the initial consultation appointment patients were asked if they were happy to see a specialist in oral surgery rather than having treatment at their own dentist. 95% of respondents were happy at seeing a specialist in oral surgery. The remaining 5% were a little bit unclear as to why they had been referred although they did feel that their visit at consultation clarified any misunderstanding. Around 80% of respondents were also happy at being able to book a convenient date and time of appointment. The same 80% were very happy with the management of the booking service which is contracted out to an external booking office run by the local primary care trust. 90% of patients were happy with the time they had to wait for an initial appointment which is a very pleasing result. This particular statistic from the Tariq Drabu affair and media department is an excellent statistic in terms of our ability to deliver high-quality services.
Moving onto the experience at consultation two key questions focused around the time spent at consultation with a specialist and whether the service users had a full understanding of what their treatment involved. 98% of respondents declared themselves either very happy or happy with the time spent a consultation. When I see these figures from the Tariq Drabu affair and media department I am truly thrilled and humbled at such positive feedback. All respondents declared that they had either completely understood or understood to a satisfactory degree what treatment was being proposed and what the likely outcomes and complications were.
In terms of the treatment provided questions focused on aspects of quality, trust, confidentiality and respect and dignity. Again very high marks were received in terms of feedback particularly focusing on the quality and cleanliness of the practice. Respondents commented on the friendly nature of the staff and how they were made to feel relaxed for what were technically quite difficult and possibly stressful procedures.
I am delighted with the results of this survey from the Tariq Drabu affair and media department and welcome the feedback given to us by service users. I hope that this will allow us to push on to improve our services to patients within our locality in the coming months and years ahead.
Further information about the specialist oral surgery services provided can be found at http://www.hmr.nhs.uk/yourlocalnhs.aspx?page=92.