Story originally posted on 25 September 2009.

UHB has won an award for the excellence of its method of finding out what patients think of its services.

Patient feedback is one of the Trust's main priorities, as the information helps the Trust to make necessary improvements and deliver the best in care.

A system developed and implemented by staff from the Information Technology Services department, Informatics and Patient Affairs and volunteers was the overall winner at the recent NHS South Birmingham Excellence in Service Awards.

UHB has already introduced bedside satisfaction surveys accessed via the patients' bedside TVs. However, as not all of the hospitals' bed spaces have a TV, an alternative method of collecting feedback was required.

IT Services, in conjunction with Associate Director of Patient Affairs Carol Rawlings and the Informatics team, developed a new web-based questionnaire which can be accessed via electronic handheld tablets.

Volunteers have been trained to use the tablets and now collect feedback directly from patients on wards where there are no bedside TVs. The questionnaires have been designed on the tablets in a clear and simple format to allow the patients to complete the questionnaires independently, if they wish.

The tablets, called 'C5 motion tablets', are already used by staff on the wards to access the Prescribing, Information and Communication System (PICS), the Trust's inpatient electronic information application.

The anonymous patient feedback information is merged with the Trust's Clinical Dashboard, a series of dials which range from red (poor performance) to green (good performance). Each dial represents data collected from various channels, including the electronic handheld tablets and the bedside TV surveys.

The benefits of real-time patient feedback are already being seen across the Trust, as Carol Rawlings explains: "Each time a ward gets three negative responses from the survey, an automatic email is sent to the Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Nurse. This happened for one ward area in relation to the cleanliness. The Chief Nurse then telephoned the ward to find out why there was a problem. She was able to identify that the ward had a shortage of domestic support, which was rectified immediately.

"The fantastic thing about the survey is the fact that it is so flexible. It can be accessed by patients in a number of ways - via the bedside TVs, via staff or volunteers with a handheld tablet, or via a telephone conservation once the patient has returned home.

Winning the Excellence in Service Award was fantastic recognition of all the hard work the teams across the Trust have dedicated to collecting patient feedback."