Health service improvement using positive patient feedback: Systematic scoping review.

BACKGROUND

Healthcare services regularly receive patient feedback, most of which is positive. Empirical studies suggest that health services can use positive feedback to create patient benefit. Our aim was to map all available empirical evidence for how positive patient feedback creates change in healthcare settings.

METHODS

Empirical studies in English were systematically identified through database searches (ACM Digital Library, AMED, ASSIA, CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO), forwards and backwards citation, and expert consultation. We summarise the characteristics of included studies and the feedback they consider, present a thematic synthesis of qualitative findings, and provide narrative summaries of quantitative findings.

RESULTS

68 papers were included, describing research conducted across six continents, with qualitative (n = 51), quantitative (n = 10), and mixed (n = 7) methods. Only two studies were interventional. The most common settings were hospitals (n = 27) and community healthcare (n = 19). The most common recipients were nurses (n = 29). Most outcomes described were desirable. These were categorised as (a) short-term emotional change for healthcare workers (including feeling motivated and improved psychological wellbeing); (b) work-home interactional change for healthcare workers (such as improved home-life relationships); (c) work-related change for healthcare workers (such as improved performance and staff retention). Some undesirable outcomes were described, including envy when not receiving positive feedback. The impact of feedback may be moderated by characteristics of particular healthcare roles, such as night shift workers having less interaction time with patients. Some factors moderating the change created by feedback are modifiable.

CONCLUSION

Further interventional research is required to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of receiving positive feedback in creating specific forms of change such as increases in staff retention. Healthcare managers may wish to use positive feedback more regularly, and to address barriers to staff receiving feedback.

Informations de copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Lloyd et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors have the following competing interests: James Munro holds a salaried role as chief executive officer of Care Opinion CIC, a non-profit company providing an online feedback platform for health services across the UK. At the time of submission, Amy Gaskin-Williams held a salaried role as Deputy Head of Involvement, Experience and Volunteering at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NottsHCT), an integrated mental health and community NHS Provider Trust. NottsHCT routinely collect and analysis patient feedback. Joanne Loughlin-Ridley holds a salaried role as Insight & Feedback Lead with NHS England (NHSE). Clare Enston holds a salaried role as Deputy Director – Insight and Feedback with NHSE. NHSE leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England and drives continuous improvement in patients experience. It oversees a number of feedback mechanisms which can support health service improvement work. Joanne Loughlin-Ridley and Clare Enston have associated with the University of Nottingham for the purposes of this work.