Patient Experience Week
This week is Patient Experience Week, an annual event that recognises healthcare staff providing quality care to their patients.
To celebrate this year's Patient Experience Week, we spoke to patient Sam* about her positive experience at Turning Point's Eastern Treatment Services (TPETS), and AOD Counsellor Max about impacting the patient experience.
Positive feedback
Turning Point aims to provide the best service for our patients. Receiving feedback from patient’s is important as it provides us with insights into what we do well, where we can improve and helps us shape future practice.
Recently, one of our AOD counsellors, Max, received some very positive feedback from one of his clients.
“My patient told me in our last session how helpful they [the sessions] were, so I knew she had gotten a lot out of them. But the email I received was effusive. I wasn't expecting that much praise to that degree,” Max said.
Max worked with his patient for six sessions to help manage their drinking.
“Sam had noticed her drinking had become an issue during Covid, so we focused on why that was and looked at ways of establishing new behaviours that didn’t revolve around drinking.”
“Throughout our sessions Sam was very engaged and would often come up with solutions herself.”
Giving control back to the patient
Not only was Sam satisfied with the sessions, she was also surprised by how quickly she was able to get help.
“I thought I would have to wait a while for my initial session, but I was so pleased to be offered help so quickly,” Sam said.
“Once I started my sessions with Max, I felt as though I was in good hands and he really helped me develop strategies to reduce my drinking.”
Since completing her sessions with Max, Sam is still incorporating the strategies they developed into her daily routine.
“Something Max and I talked a lot about in our sessions was handing authority back to me. It really helped talking to someone like Max because he made me realise reducing my drinking was something I could achieve.”
If you are concerned about your drug and/or alcohol consumption you can take one of our self-assessments tests. You can also check out our support services to see what help is available for you.
* Name has been changed to protect participant’s anonymity.