Introduction

HSCR specialises in consumer research for healthcare services. Specifically, attitudinal analysis of patients who have recently received treatment in primary care and secondary care facilities, or from GP practices, Mental Health Services, Dental Services, and patients receiving treatment or undergoing examination or testing procedures.

NZGPAQ - A Patient Survey for the New Zealand General Practitioner

NZGPAQ is the New Zealand version of the General Practitioner Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) which was developed by the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre at The University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
The NZGPAQ helps practices find out what patients think about their care. The survey can either be administered by post or completed after consultation in the surgery or on-line.
The NZGPAQ is copyright of the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre at Manchester University and Dana Gelb Safran of the New England Medical Center Hospitals. The copyright can be found at the bottom of the first page of each questionnaire. HSCR is licensed by Manchester University and offer an analysis and reporting service for NZGPAQ patient surveys, either to individual practices, or to IPAs and PHOs. Our reports are detailed, customised reports.
Before using the NZGPAQ for your patients, please read the information provided on www.gpaq.info. Visit this site to obtain more detailed information about GPAQ, the University of Manchester's conditions for use, how to use GPAQ and a GPAQ manual and handbook entitled "Improving your practice with patient surveys" The GPAQ manual explains in greater depth how the questionnaire was developed, how it should be used, and the options for analysis.
Like the GPAQ, the NZGPAQ is designed for adults aged at least 16 years. There is no upper age limit for its use.
From this page you can download both versions of the NZGPAQ - the one to be sent by post and the one you can use after consultations in the surgery.
If you are not sure which version to use, go to www.gpaq.info
The NZGPAQ will soon be available in Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Niuean, Cook Island Maori and Chinese.
Download the NZ GPAQ questionnaire free of charge
NZ GPAQ for sending by post (PDF)
NZ GPAQ to administer in the surgery (PDF)
Please note, that to download the questionnaires you will need Adobe Reader on your computer. If you do not have it, you can download a free copy from the Adobe website.

Online NZGPAQ

The on-line NZGPAQ uses the consultation version of the New Zealand General Practitioner Assessment Questionnaire (NZGPAQ) which was developed by the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre at The University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
The NZGPAQ is copyright of the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre at Manchester University and Dana Gelb Safran of the New England Medical Center Hospitals. HSCR is licensed by Manchester University and offer an analysis and reporting service for NZGPAQ patient surveys, either to individual practices, or to IPAs and PHOs. Our reports are detailed, customised reports.
Practices can register on-line with HSCR providing their practice and GP details. Patient invitations to participate in the survey can then be downloaded from this website and printed in the practice. Invitations and questionnaires have unique codes which allow patients to provide feedback on a specific GP within that practice.
Patients complete the questionnaire by internet at home, at work or in your surgery. Alternatively, patient who do not have access to the internet can complete the printed form before leaving the surgery and practice staff submit the data on-line. Reports will be emailed to the practice once the required number of questionnaires have been completed.
Using the online NZGPAQ has a number of advantages among which:
* It is fast – the responses are received when the data is submitted, the report is produced as soon as the quota of 50 patients per GP is reached
* It is more accurate than paper-based methods as there is no data-input person having to interpret what the patient has written
* It is more secure in that all data transmission occurs via secure server encryption
* There is more space for patients to tell you in their own words what their impressions are of the care they have received
* It is more objective as the unique identification code guarantees complete anonymity
* It saves time: once the patient has been handed the invitation to participate in the survey and the unique identifying code there is no more work for the GP, the practice manager or practice nurse
* With some 75% of people in New Zealand having access to the internet (see fig 1.) this is a popular and powerful method to obtain patient feedback
* The cost is only $175 per GP
GRAPH: Access to the Internet (Percentage of People)
If you are interested in carrying out a NZGPAQ survey, please contact us.

Staff Surveys

A staff survey allows you to receive feedback on what staff think about working at your organisation. It provides an opportunity for staff to comment on your organisation’s vision and values and planned direction or can elicit comments on proposed strategies. Staff want to be consulted and, in particular if management takes to heart the ideas and comments put forward, such consultation will produce a feeling of inclusiveness, of empowerment, that is the hallmark of many successful organisations.
Staff surveys provide hospital management and clinical leaders not only with a good indication of the general climate but also allow them to hone in on areas in which satisfaction was lower than elsewhere. Many initiatives have been developed as a direct result of information gained by such surveys, leading to increased staff satisfaction.
Annual staff surveys enable you to look back to the first baseline study and observe any change in attitude.

Online staff surveys

HSCR has conducted many staff surveys for healthcare organisations but the most successful ones have been those completed on-line. Such web-based staff surveys have a number of advantages over paper-based postal surveys in that they:
* are much less expensive since there are no printing cost, nor postage costs, nor data input costs.
* are more accurate since data entry error rates are confined to spelling mistakes by the people completing the surveys
* are faster because as soon as the last person has completed the survey, the data can be analysed
* are more secure as validation procedures prevent unauthorised access or submission of rogue questionnaires
* allow for improved benchmarking with other organisations since questions can be asked in exactly the same way and in the same sequence
To give you an idea of what an online survey is like to complete, take yourself for a tour through a Trial Staff Survey (coming soon). Your responses to the questions are not recorded so you can select whatever option you like. If you don't want to answer a question, just choose the "next question" option.
You'll see how easy it is and, provided it is completed by a sufficient number of staff, how useful the information would be to managers and clinical leaders. This particular questionnaire provides managers and clinical leaders with information on what staff think about the organisation in terms of issues such as how well it is managed, the quality of communication, the adequacy of resources, how well performance management is implemented and how valued or appreciated they feel. This feedback enables managers and clinical leaders to identify priority areas of concern and areas for improvement. (Of course, this questionnaire is only a test questionnaire and it can be amended to meet your specific needs or replaced by your own questionnaire)
If you are interested in carrying out an on-line Staff Survey please contact us.