Results of the 2012/2013 Hospice Patient Survey General Report

The 2012/13 survey is the fifth in a series of surveys on patient satisfaction with inpatient and daycare services carried out by Help the Hospices and the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent, with previous surveys being completed in 2004/05, 2006/07, 2008/09 and 2010/11. All hospices across the UK were invited to take part in the 2012/13 Patient Survey and 20 hospices participated between November 2012 and May 2013.

The method of data collection was a self-completion questionnaire, with one questionnaire for adult users of daycare services and another for inpatient services. Each hospice distributed a questionnaire and an accompanying information letter to inpatients at discharge and to daycare patients at discharge or after two months of attending daycare. The survey included respite patients, those being discharged for terminal care at home, and readmissions even though the latter group may have been given the opportunity to complete the questionnaire more than once.