Stroke helpline and information service: how we are performing
We monitor and evaluate the performance of the Stroke Helpline and Information Service against our service standards to ensure that we are providing an excellent service.
We aim to:
Answer 80 per cent of all written enquiries within five working days and 100 per cent within seven working days.
Between 1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012 we answered 83 per cent of written enquiries within five working days, and 96 per cent within seven working days. This is a significant improvement on the previously reported figures (1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011), which were 72 per cent and 87 per cent respectively.
Improving our enquiry response times continues to be a priority for us. We monitor individual performance against targets, have worked to reduce sickness absence and have recently relocated the helpline to our Life After Stroke Centre in Bromsgrove, adding additional management capacity to support the team further.
Answer 80 per cent of calls that are made to the helpline during opening hours.
Over a year period between 1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012 we answered 77 per cent of calls made during opening hours. This is a fall of 4 per cent on the previous year. In large part this is due to a reduction in the number of staff time available to answer calls during the transfer of the helpline to our Life After Stroke Centre in Bromsgrove and should be remedied over the coming year.
Achieve no less than 95 per cent satisfaction rate from people who have used our service.
We conducted our most recent user feedback survey in October 2012. You can download this report here. 83 per cent of enquirers were happy with the service they received rating it as excellent, very good or good. Unfortunately we have moved further away from our target satisfaction rate as in April 2012 90 per cent of survey respondents were happy. Due to the small number of respondents, a total of 60, when enquirers are unhappy the satisfaction rate is affected more significantly. We are, however, disappointed to read that a small amount of the enquirers who completed this survey were unhappy with the service they received.
We pride ourselves on delivering a high quality service and are always concerned to hear if this has not been the case. We looked into the correspondence from and to seven of the enquirers who expressed some dissatisfaction in the survey to try to understand what they were unhappy about and identify improvements for the future. We have shared feedback with the Helpline Information Officers who dealt with these enquiries and where relevant with other departments.
Other key findings of the survey were:
- Over 90 per cent of enquirers rated the professionalism, clarity of communication, language, listening skills and empathy demonstrated by the Helpline Information Officer who spoke or wrote to them as excellent or good.
- The majority of enquirers thought the amount of information (87 per cent) and the level of detail (85 per cent) we provided was just right.
- 82 per cent said the service met their expectations.
- 97 per cent of enquirers were able to contact us at a time convenient to them.
Revise, update and fully reference all our information publications regularly.
Following our success in being awarded the Information Standard in 2009 we have been following a process of revising, referencing and updating our information publications. We have have a rolling programme in place so that all our information publications will have been comprehensively reviewed, rewritten and referenced by September 2012.
Look for the Information Standard logo for a guarantee that health and social care information is accurate, impartial, balanced, evidence-based, accessible and well-written.
User feedback
We receive a range of feedback from service users. Some examples are given below:
“I'd just like to say a huge heartfelt thank you in reply to your email, the information you have provided us have given us a boost as a family… it’s a nice change to hear from people that genuinely care and want to help.” December 2012
“The listening ear was just what I needed and I spoke to someone who understood how I was feeling and pointed me in the right direction.” October 2012
“I found the service very useful. The information you sent me about younger adults and stroke was great. Most of the other material I have read related to older people and I was feeling very isolated and that no one understood.” October 2012
“I was very grateful to receive the pack of information recently in answer to my queries as I fight on behalf of my friend for treatment and funding following her severe stroke….I have some information of real use from The Stroke Association to continue my battle on her behalf.” September 2012
“I just wanted to say again how wonderful talking to you was, you were helpful and understanding, and you gave me the confidence to speak to the hospital” July 2012
“You have provided me with the most concrete help out of over two dozen organisations. The Stroke Association has lived up to its reputation." March 2012.
We welcome all feedback and suggestions about how we could further improve our service.