Service User Satisfaction Survey

What should a care satisfaction survey ask?

A satisfaction survey for a care service asks the people you support, and their families, how safe they feel, how staff treat them and what you could do better. This one keeps the questions short and plain, and it takes about 10 minutes. Names are optional, and the opening lines tell people their answers will not change their care.

It works for care homes, home care and supported living, with a section for each.

What the survey covers

Most questions take a tick for yes, sometimes, no or not sure. They are grouped under five headings:

• Feeling safe, such as "Do you feel safe with our staff?"

• Your care and support, including food, drink and seeing a doctor or nurse

• How staff treat you, from kindness and privacy to respect for culture and beliefs

• Getting what you need, including whether people know how to complain

• How we run the service, such as whether they know who the manager is

Then come the service sections. Care home residents are asked about their room, the food, visiting and things to do. People who get home care are asked whether staff arrive on time, stay for the agreed time and leave the home tidy. In supported living, the questions turn to choice: how people spend their day, going out, and having a say in who supports them.

The survey ends with an overall rating from very good to very poor, two open questions on what you do well and what you could do better, and optional contact details.

Before you send out the satisfaction survey

1. Delete the service sections you do not need.

2. Add your return date, address and the staff member people can hand it to.

3. Offer help to fill it in, and offer large print or easy read.

Someone the person trusts can help them answer too, and the form says so.

Using the results

Feed the answers into your quality checks, which regulation 17 expects. Then close the loop with the people who took part. The form promises that you read all the answers, share what you found and tell people what you will change.

The results are evidence for your Governance & Quality Assurance Policy. Any complaint raised in a survey belongs in your Complaints Log, and the Service User Guide tells people how to give feedback and how to complain.