Impact

Why measure impact?

As part of the National Care Experience Programme Strategic Plan (2019-2021) and the National Care Experience Programme Strategy 2022-2024, a commitment has been made to measure the impact of the programme on health and social care policy, practice and regulation in Ireland.

Measuring and reporting on the impact of the National Care Experience Programme:

• promotes transparency
• allows for evaluation of the programme
• demonstrates the effectiveness of the programme across health and social care services.

How is impact measured?

Impact is measured using a combination of measures, including:

• Reach and engagement with stakeholders, including staff information sessions and communicating survey findings to different audiences.
• Generation of outputs, such as reports and quality improvement initiatives in response to survey findings.
• Changes in practice which are reflected in patient experience scores and changes to national or local policy or practice.

2021 Impact report infographic

Examples of changes that have been identified in the Irish health system since the first year of the National Inpatient Experience Survey:

• Since 2017, the greatest improvement in patient experience nationally has been observed in the area of discharge or transfer, as illustrated in the graph below.

• In 2017, 44% of participants stated that they were given written or printed information on what they should or should not do after leaving hospital. However, in 2019, up to 57% of participants said they had received this type of information.
• The National Healthcare Communication Programme was established in response to the inpatient survey findings to guide and support staff in developing and maintaining effective skills when communicating with patients.