Improving information for nuclear medicine department outpatients

In two large inner city hospitals we have conducted a survey of the letters sent to patients before their attendance at a nuclear medicine department. The majority of questions asked for a graded answer (poor, fair, ok, good, excellent). Patients were handed the survey form when they had completed their test and the survey was continued until 100 valid replies had been received at each hospital. Information leaflets, as recommended by the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS), were subsequently issued to all patients and at one hospital the patient information letters were rewritten. The surveys were then repeated. There was a significant (P < 0.001) improvement in patient satisfaction with the information provided. In some areas, for example, instructions about getting to the hospital, no different information was provided and there was no change between the surveys, as would be expected. Curiously, questions allowing free text answers were more often completed by patients from Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham, than from Guy's Hospital, London. Some possible explanations for this difference are discussed. Particularly reassuring was that more women understood about precautions regarding pregnancy or breastfeeding as a result of the leaflets. We would recommend the advice of the BNMS to other nuclear medicine departments.