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Our approach

At Spectrum, patients are at the heart of everything we do. The experience of our patients helps to inform the way in which we develop our services and the quality of care we provide.

We have improved the uptake of our patient experience feedback forms by 25% and shifted our focus on closing the feedback loop to continuously improve our services.

Our patient engagement and experience strategy outlines our ambition to meaningfully engage with our patients and their carers. We have chosen co-production (where patients are involved) to be our preferred method of quality improvement, because we recognise the value and importance of diverse lived experience.

The strategy has six objectives:  

  1. We communicate openly

  2. We do with (and not to)

  3. We said, we did

  4. We are transparent

  5. We are inclusive

  6. We know how and where

thumbnail of Patient engagement and experience strategy 2022-25

Our patient engagement and experience strategy

How we engage

All our healthcare teams value patient experience and feedback because it helps us to improve our services. We also share positive comments with our staff to boost morale, as well as constructive criticism to improve our standards.

Across all our services, we ask our patients to complete a Patient Experience Questionnaire (PEQ) that is based on the NHS Friends and Family Test format. The form encourages our patients to share their experience of care received, as well as suggest ideas for positive change. We then produce a You Said, We Did summary which is shared with patients to show how we have responded to the feedback.

Our sexual health and primary care clinics digitally engage with our patients, using the PEQ and service improvements surveys. Regular digital interaction encourages patients to share their experiences and suggestions for improvements, in a way that is prompt, convenient and current.

Within secure environments, patients are encouraged to speak to staff – whether that be a member of the healthcare team, prison officers, or someone pastoral. They can also provide feedback (a complaint or compliment) via the PEQ.

You can also share your thoughts with us by selecting patient feedback on our get in touch form.

You said, we did

Here is an example of how we acted on feedback from a PEQ question at one of our sexual health clinics.

How would you prefer to make a sexual health appointment at our Wakefield clinic?

You said

We did

87% of patients said they would prefer to make an appointment via telephone.

Improvements to the telephone service are being made by implementing Microsoft TEAMS telephony. This will enable more calls to be answered, improving patient experience when booking an appointment.

78% of patients said they would prefer to make an appointment via the website.

We are piloting an online booking system which patients can register for.

58% of patients said they would prefer a text system with Call me.

The clinic now provides a text Call me service, which is available during clinic opening hours.

39% of patients said they would prefer to make an appointment via email.

Patients can email the clinic at any time and all emails will be responded to during clinic opening times.

33% of patients said they would prefer to make an appointment in person at reception.

Our reception desk is always staffed during clinic opening times.

Patient impact

Patient experience