NHS Hospital for Children

The Problem

Before partnering with SmartSurvey, one of the country's top children’s hospitals used various platforms to gather patient and staff feedback. While functional, this approach had its drawbacks. They sought a solution to support staff in undertaking high-quality surveys, with the primary benefits being:

• Providing an easy-to-use and proven tool for any staff member to conduct high-quality surveys with clear SOPs and guidance
• Support from super users who have additional training and experience in survey design
• Eliminating the need for multiple departments and individuals to procure commercial survey providers
• Increasing the ability to have oversight of organisational surveys
• Ensuring compliance with GDPR, ICT and Information Governance standards
• Aligning with governance processes for staff conducting patient experience, clinical audit, quality improvement, or research.

The hospital faced difficulties with data duplication and inconsistencies in data quality, which hindered the efficiency of feedback analysis. The use of multiple systems resulted in a lack of a unified method for managing feedback, leading to a complex and sometimes inefficient processes, and a lack of oversight of feedback systems. There were also considerations regarding data storage practices concerning GDPR guidelines, such as where data was being stored, backed up, and processed.  

The hospital sought to enhance its data governance and streamline feedback processes while ensuring compliance with all relevant data protection regulations, aiming for a solution that offered both security and efficiency.

The Solution

SmartSurvey won a rigorous and competitive procurement process to offer a unified, GDPR-compliant platform for all feedback-related activities at the hospital. The solution included:

• Implementing a centralised solution for over 500 users, enhancing autonomy in survey creation and distribution while ensuring data quality and compliance
• Enabling real-time, customised report sharing to increase responsiveness to collected data
• Upholding rigorous data security standards, evidenced by ISO27001 certification, NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit accreditation, and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation
• Collaborating with the hospital to deploy a custom Single Sign-On (SSO) solution, leveraging SmartSurvey’s secure UK-based infrastructure to facilitate easy and secure platform access for users
• Developing a standard operating procedure for using SmartSurvey
• Training super users across the organisation.

"Using SmartSurvey has given us a controlled and effective solution to support our staff in using a first-class tool to effectively and safely manage surveys to gather feedback from staff and patients. Knowing our data was securely managed within the UK, coupled with the ease of access through the SSO solution, made all the difference. SmartSurvey didn’t just meet our expectations; it exceeded them, having a very significant impact on our ability to effectively develop feedback for important Trust-wide projects and priorities. As super users, we have had a very good experience using the system directly, and from the clinical staff whom we support and direct to SmartSurvey as a way of gaining insight from patients and colleagues to get feedback to support our work."

NHS Hospital - Clinical Audit Manager  

Results

The implementation of SmartSurvey has increased the hospital’s ability to confidently gather feedback and ensure they can listen to staff and patients. Several Trust-wide priority projects have been undertaken, such as reviewing the culture for staff to be able to speak up about concerns, which was not possible without SmartSurvey due to concerns over collecting such sensitive information with the previous provider.

The hospital achieved an 75% cost reduction by choosing an annual trust-wide license over individual licenses with their previous feedback vendor.  

With a single system, they were able to centralise and control feedback management, reducing duplication, enhancing data quality, and gaining oversight of all feedback initiatives and results.

The hospital appreciated SmartSurvey’s serious approach to data security, underpinned by its impressive array of certifications and accreditations. The implementation of a UK-based, secure infrastructure, coupled with the ease of access provided by the custom SSO solution, significantly boosted user confidence in the system. This secure and efficient environment enabled the hospital to focus on leveraging the platform for its intended purpose: improving service delivery and conducting sensitive research with the assurance of robust data protection, something the audit team felt they could not achieve with their previous vendors due to data storage concerns.

This elevated level of confidence in security, coupled with the knowledge that all data is securely stored within the UK, enabled the hospital to support sensitive priority projects, secure in the knowledge that data security and user privacy were rigorously protected.

Differentiation: Why SmartSurvey?

The hospital chose SmartSurvey for several key reasons:

UK Ring-Fenced: Ensuring GDPR compliance and data security was a critical factor. SmartSurvey's UK Ring-Fenced solution offered the necessary legal assurance and enhanced confidence to capture the sensitive information needed to drive greater organisation-wide impact.

Customer Support: The personalised and prompt customer support provided by SmartSurvey significantly stood out. Unlike other providers that offered limited support with slower response times, SmartSurvey offered tailored assistance and quick resolutions to any issues, becoming an extension of the team.

Cost-Effectiveness: SmartSurvey presented advanced functionality combined with great value through a trust-wide license, avoiding the high costs associated with per-user licenses from other providers.

User-Friendly Features: Features like real-time live summary reporting and the save-and-continue functionality enabled more effective survey management and a better respondent experience, saving significant amounts of staff time and driving even more cost savings.

Conclusion

The partnership between the hospital and SmartSurvey has been hugely beneficial, far exceeding the expectations of a standard feedback management solution. By prioritising data security and compliance, SmartSurvey has provided the hospital with more than just a platform for collecting feedback; it has offered better opportunities to gather feedback from patients and staff that was previously unheard of. Now, thanks to SmartSurvey’s secure, UK-based infrastructure the hospital can confidently gather feedback to support the hospital's continuous improvement and commitment to excellence in patient care. This collaboration is a testament to how the right tools, underpinned by a deep commitment to security and user privacy, can unlock invaluable insights and foster a culture of openness and trust within healthcare settings.