Introduction: To improve quality of healthcare, patient information must be thorough and easy to understand. This is important in day surgery where patients are seen less often by health practitioners. We looked at the impact of improving patient information in the setting of day-case hemorrhoidectomy in terms of patient satisfaction and whether medical attention was sought after the operation.
Methods: A retrospective, comparative study was performed on 60 patients undergoing day-case hemorrhoidectomy and on 60 patients undergoing the same operation with improved patient information. Comparisons were made between the groups regarding patient satisfaction scores, those seeking medical attention, the numbers of patients requesting a 6-week outpatient follow-up and the reasons for seeking medical advice.
Results: There was a significant improvement in the patient satisfaction scores in the second study group who received the improved information. This group sought medical attention significantly less and they felt less need for a routine follow-up.
Conclusions: This study has shown that by improving the quality of patient information for day-case hemorrhoidectomy, patient satisfaction was higher and fewer patients sought medical attention, which has beneficial financial indications for the NHS Trust and improvement of healthcare for the patient.
Keywords: day-case surgery; healthcare improvement; patient satisfaction.
© 2012 National Association for Healthcare Quality.