THE USE OF THE STANDARDISED GMC PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY (PSS) IN A SECONDARY CARE SETTING – A USEFUL TOOL FOR REVALIDATION

All licensed doctors are required to revalidate from June 2012. The GMC states that patient feedback should form part of doctors provided evidence. A standardised GMC PSS has been shown to offer a reliable basis for the assessment of professionalism among UK doctors and has been suggested as a tool for revalidation. We aim to show its use in the secondary care setting to be simple and effective, offering further evidence for doctors undergoing revalidation. Having sought permission from the Trust the GMC PSS was used in the manner directed for 3 doctors in a Trauma and Orthopaedic fracture clinic. The data was analysed using an automated system and the results made available to individual clinicians in a simple to present format. 3 clinicians used the survey across 13 clinic sessions. The mean number of clinics it took to generate sufficient responses was 3.25 (range 2–5). We found the survey easy to use, HCAs handed forms to patients before consultation. Survey results were collected as patients left clinic and analysed by the Patient Services Department. The GMC PSS, although designed principally for use in Primary care appears to be a useful tool in secondary care.