The development of an online patient safety questionnaire for Primary Care (PREOS-PC)

Problem

The Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC) questionnaire was developed and piloted as part of the Patient Safety Toolkit for Primary Care developmental work. This was the first large-scale survey to evaluate the safety of general practices in England as experienced by the patients themselves. Suggestions for improving the questionnaire included making it shorter and developing an online version. This current study was undertaken to explore the feasibility of using two online, shortened, versions of PREOS-PC questionnaire (Short-Form and Compact questionnaires) in general practice.

Approach

After registering with the PREOS-PC database, 17 participating practices in the East Midlands sent emails containing a link to the questionnaire to a random sample of patients (18 years and over). Questionnaire responses were directly stored in the database and a downloadable report available to each practice in real-time. Patients also provided feedback on the process of completing the online questionnaire. Data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Findings

A total of 699 Compact and 247 Short-Form questionnaires were completed. Overall, patients perceived their general practices to be safe. Results showed that practices were more proactive than patients at ensuring safer healthcare. Free text responses from patients highlighted areas where practices performed well in relation to patient safety and areas where improvements could be made.

Consequences

This study successfully demonstrated that it is feasible to disseminate the PREOS-PC questionnaire online. Strategies and opportunities to engage the practice staff and patient participation groups in utilising results from the PREOS-PC questionnaire are needed.