Gathering views from people about transplant services
We were asked by NHS National Services Scotland to gather views from patients who had received a transplant, focusing particularly on the transplantation process, aftercare experience and the impact of receiving a transplant on the patient, family and carers.
This report describes our approach and summarises the feedback from people who took part. It highlights some of the recommendations arising from the themes supported by the group discussions.
Our local offices organised and facilitated 5 discussion groups close to where the majority of patients lived, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Kirkcaldy. Face-to-face and telephone interviews were also conducted with people who were unable to attend a discussion group.
This report, Gathering views from people about transplant services, summarises what people told us.
Impact
Feedback gathered in our focus groups helped to inform a report, Commissioning Transplant to 2020, which was published by National Services Division. Comments relating to specific transplant centres were also shared with staff and management in all the transplant units across Scotland.
Based on the feedback received from participants, National Services Division recommended a number of proposals aimed at improving the patient experience. In total 25 recommendations were made, 12 of which are directly linked to the themes arising from the focus group discussions.