Victorian Health Experience Survey
Helping improve healthcare for all Victorians
What is the Victorian Healthcare Experience Survey?
The Victorian Healthcare Experience Survey (VHES) asks people about their healthcare experience. The feedback collected is used by health services to identify ways they can improve. After your visit to BCH, you may be invited to participate in the Victorian Healthcare Experience Survey. The survey asks consumers and carers about their healthcare experience. The survey collects feedback on:
- the care you received
- how and when you were communicated with about your care
- the hospital or health setting you visited.
We also want to hear about any suggestions you have to improve health services.
Can I also provide feedback directly to Ballarat Community Health?
We are committed to continually improving the quality of the services we deliver and value all forms of feedback anytime including compliments, complaints and comments. If you would like to leave us some feedback, please chat to any BCH staff member and they can assist.
If you don’t want to speak about it with our staff, you can write your feedback down. Ask at any of our sites for a paper feedback form or submit your feedback online.
How are the survey results used?
Survey results are used in a number of different ways, including:
• Healthcare professionals and policy makers use survey responses to deliver better, safer care
• Public healthcare facilities use survey results to find out how they can provide a better service for you and other Victorians.
In the past, survey results have led to important changes in how healthcare is provided, as well as changes in staff training, cleaning rosters, food and how information is provided to consumers and their families. Your voice is valued, and your feedback will help create a better healthcare system for everyone.
How are people selected to participate?
Consumers and their carers may be invited to complete a survey after or during their experience at a healthcare setting. Consumers will be randomly selected to participate in the survey. Participation is voluntary. Survey responses are de-identified and used to evaluate and improve health care delivery in Victoria.
What to do if you get an invitation to participate?
If you are selected to take part in the survey, you will receive an invitation by SMS, email or post. You can complete the survey:
- online, by using the link or QR code on the invitation
- over the phone, if you don’t have internet access. This can be done by calling the 1800 helpline number listed on the invitation.
Your invitation will include information about how to complete the survey or how to opt out if you’d like to. The survey has been translated and can be completed in 23 different languages.
Who conducts the survey?
The survey is managed by the Victorian Agency for Health Information, a division of the Victorian Department of Health, and conducted by Ipsos Australia, an independent research company.
How your privacy will be protected
Your survey responses will be de-identified. The healthcare service that cared for you will not know whether you have completed the questionnaire and will not be able to see your individual responses. Victorian healthcare providers, the Department of Health and the Victorian Agency for Health Information will only have access to de-identified survey results. Your data is protected in accordance with Australian Information Privacy Principles, the Victorian Information Privacy Principles, the Health Privacy Principles and the Association of Market and Social Research Organisations privacy code.
For further information, including how to access and correct information Ipsos Australia may hold about you, please call the toll-free helpline on 1800 356 928.
Can you use the survey to make a formal complaint?
If you have a complaint, you should contact the healthcare service where the issue occurred. Alternatively, if you feel they are not responding to your complaint you may contact the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner on 1300 582 113.
