Abstract
The purpose of this study was to design a questionnaire to evaluate patients’ satisfaction with the healthcare system relating to their spinal procedure, and to gather information relating to pre and post operative management. If successful, this questionnaire will be incorporated into the FASTER (Function after spinal treatment, exercise and rehabilitation) study, with the aim of identifying common care pathways and to understand where stumbling blocks arise.
The questionnaire included three sections: Care before surgery, care after surgery, plus general measures of satisfaction. Patients were randomly selected from the hospital records if they had undergone a lumbar discectomy or lateral nerve root decompression within the past year; this included both NHS and private patients.
34 pilot questionnaires were sent, to date 18 have been returned (9 NHS and 9 private patients). It was found that 79% of patients went to their GP when first experiencing pain/discomfort; however, alarmingly, an overwhelming majority of these patients felt their problem was not dealt with correctly at this stage. Fifty percent of the patients who went through the NHS “Definitely” felt left alone to deal with their problem. Only 10% of patients had physiotherapy prior to surgery and none went to pain management classes. 32% of patients received physiotherapy after leaving hospital; however, in all but one case this was after returning with symptoms.
Despite this, patients in general were very pleased with the care they received during there hospital stay. This pilot data provides an insight into the issues experienced by spinal surgery patients.
Correspondence should be addressed to: Mr John O’ Dowd, SBPR, c/o BOA, The Royal College of Surgeons, 35–43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE.
