SEM hospitals consistently exceed NPS score expectations

After a record start to the year for Berwick Hospital’s NPS scores, Lisa Norman reflects on how remarkable the overall results are across our SEM hospital network and why it’s important we continue to aim high in achieving exceptional patient experiences for everyone who comes into our care.

As I often say, a great patient experience relies upon every one of us doing our best to make our patients feel comfortable and safe. Oftentimes, patients arrive at our hospital feeling anxious and scared. They might be in our care for any number of reasons — having surgery, welcoming a new baby, recovering in rehab, are unwell and unsure of what the future holds, or sadly they may be commencing end of life care, or have a loved one beginning that journey.

Whatever that reason may be, a patient’s experience starts at pre-admission and doesn’t end until they are safely home. And to accurately monitor how our patients feel, we survey them and collate the results into an overall score – which often reflects the effort our caregivers have gone to in enhancing a person’s time in our care.

To understand how Net Promotor Scores (NPS) are determined, patients receive an SMS after discharge asking them to give a score between one and 10 when rating their experience with us.

If a patient scores 9 or 10 we receive 1 point. If they respond with a 7 or 8 we receive a 0, and if a patient scores us 6 or below we receive a -1. Therefore our overall score will exist somewhere between -100 and +100. In January Berwick Hospital received a score of +86.2. This is outstanding.

Since the commencement of NPS at SJGHC, Berwick has had 33,281 patients respond, achieving an average score of +82.8. Most hospitals seek to achieve a score of 70, so while a score in the 80s is remarkable, a score over 85 is exceptional.

To break it down further: of the 33,281 patients, 86% of the responses are what are considered to be “promoters” scoring 9 or 10, 11% are “passive” scoring 7 or 8, and 3% of the responses are “detractors” scoring 6 or below.

While Berwick’s results should be applauded, NPS scores for Frankston Hospital and Langmore Clinic/Pinelodge have equally achieved numbers worth celebrating. Over the past year Frankston has recorded an overall NPS score of 84.4, not to mention an all-time high of 96.3 in April 2022. That same month, Pinelodge also received an incredible NPS result of 90.9 and has maintained an average score of 78 since opening in August last year. Mental health facilities also use an additional survey called Your Experience of Service (YES) which is based on the Recovery Principles of the Australian National Standards for Mental Health Services, and seeks to obtain feedback on care provided. Last year Langmore Centre achieved 4.16 out of 5 for the overall effect it had on patient wellbeing and 4.35 out of 5 for patient experience. Fantastic achievements for both hospitals.

What do we do with these scores and the feedback we receive?

When our unit managers receive NPS results they make contact with patients who score their experience at a 6 or below to better understand how we could have made their experience more positive. While patients have the option to leave comments explaining their score within the survey, a follow up call provides a greater opportunity for us to reflect on the situation, learn how we can improve and importantly, apologise to our patients.

I encourage everyone to take a moment to think about the role we all play in enhancing a patient’s experience and what we can do individually to challenge ourselves in raising and exceeding their expectations wherever possible.

I’d like to finish with a message from Maya Angelou that I often share with our caregivers:

“People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Our SEM NPS scores are truly reflective of this statement and the passion and commitment of our caregivers in ensuring that every patient receives the best care and experience from us all, is deeply rooted in these results. Well done everyone. Thank you.