FAQs For Patients

Who is carrying out the study?

The Patient-Reported Indicator Surveys (PaRIS Survey) is being carried out by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) and ORIMA Research, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department).

It is part of an international survey led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Patient organisations, providers, and academics from over 20 countries have collaborated to develop the survey.

An international consortium (the PaRIS SUR consortium) supported the development and implementation. The PaRIS SUR Consortium is comprised of:

• NIVEL, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, (Consortium Leader), Utrecht, The Netherlands www.nivel.nl
• Ipsos MORI, London, United Kingdom www.ipsos.com
• University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
• Avedis Donabedian Institute, Barcelona, Spain
• OptiMedis AG, Hamburg, Germany

ORIMA Research will be collecting the survey information and analysing it. De-identified survey data will be provided to the Commission and the PaRIS SUR Consortium research partners to conduct further data analysis and benchmarking of results.

You can find out more about the Commission at www.safetyandquality.gov.au and ORIMA Research at https://orima.com.au/

More information about the OECD and the PaRIS initiative is at www.oecd.org/health/paris/

Why is this survey being carried out?

The aim of this survey is to improve health care for you, your family and community and to help health systems better understand how patients feel about their care.

This study will include patients and healthcare providers in many countries so that different healthcare systems across the world can be compared and learn from each other.

In Australia, we plan to use this survey to help healthcare providers improve their care in line with what their patients want.

This survey is an opportunity for you to have your voice heard and it may eventually help shape the way your care is delivered in the future.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You have been invited to take part because your general practitioner (GP) practice is participating.

The survey is being sent to all patients (or a random selection of patients) from the list of patients in your general practice who are 45 years and over and have visited the practice in the last 6 months.

Your contribution will help us understand how you feel about your care and the need for further improvement.

What questions will I be asked?

The survey asks questions about your experience of care and treatment provided by your GP practice.

In addition, there are some questions about you and your health.

How do I take part?

You can take part by filling out the survey online. It should take less than 25 minutes to complete.

The survey will ask about your experience with your GP practice, as well as questions about you and your health.

Do I have to take part?

No. Taking part is voluntary. If you take part, you can stop at any time and can skip over any questions you do not want to answer.

Please be assured, whether or not you choose to participate, will not affect the care you receive from your GP in any way.

We hope you will take part, as this will give us the best possible understanding of people’s experiences with health care in Australia.

What happens to my answers?

Your answers are put together and analysed with the answers from other people and are not linked to your name, address or any other personal identifiers. Your individual answers to the questions will be kept confidential.

The data will be analysed by ORIMA Research on behalf of OECD, the Commission and the Department.

Your answers will be linked with the answers that your GP practice gives on a separate GP practice survey.

The GP practice survey contains general questions about the way your practice provides care to its patients and does not include any questions about care provided to individual patients or about patients themselves.

Any published results will be aggregated and fully anonymised, which means that it will not be possible to identify anyone based on the survey finding.

Your answers will not be shared with your GP practice in any identifiable form.

Questions about completing the survey

Why have I received another questionnaire that asks similar questions?

There may be other surveys asking about similar things, but they are not the PaRIS Survey.

We would be grateful if you could take the time to fill this survey in and return it to us.

Do I have to answer all the questions?

Answering the questions, including any demographic questions in the ‘about yourself’ section, is completely voluntary.

This means you don’t have to answer them all. However, we hope you will, as this will give us the best possible picture of people’s experiences with their health care.

Can I complete the survey in any other languages?

Yes, the survey is available in:

• Chinese Simplified – 信息表
• Punjabi – ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ ਦਾ ਪਰਚਾ
• Vietnamese – Trang thông tin
• Arabic – ورقة المعلومات’
• Greek – Φυλλάδιο πληροφόρησης
• Italian – Scheda informativa

I’ve lost my survey number/number code to complete the survey online. Can I have these again?

If you have lost your login details, please email [email protected] or call 1800 806 950 with your request and we will email these back to you.

This may take a few days as all survey numbers are held securely.

In addition, you will receive a reminder email or text message asking you to complete the survey if you have not done so already.

Your survey logon details will be contained in this reminder.

Can I take a break while I am filling in the survey online?

You can exit and return to your survey at any time before you submit your survey.

You will be given an 8 digit PIN when you first start your survey.

You should make note of this PIN as it will allow you to exit and return to your online survey.

If you exit the survey without making a note of your PIN, you will not be able to return to your survey and will have to restart.

Can someone help me fill in the questionnaire?

Yes. If you need help filling in the questionnaire, you can ask someone to help you. Please note that the answers should be about your experience only.

Can I complete the survey on behalf of a relative or friend?

Yes. If someone needs your help in filling in the survey, you can offer to help.

However, the answers should be about their experience only.

ORIMA Research also has a helpline for patients who have problems filling in the questionnaire.

Please call the helpdesk on 1800 806 590 between the hours of 8:30am and 5:00pm AEST, Monday to Friday. Alternatively, they can email [email protected]

Who are my contact details shared with?

Your GP practice may have sent the survey information to you directly or they may have shared a limited amount of information with ORIMA Research so they could invite you to take part in this survey. This information includes your name, email address, and mobile phone number.

ORIMA Research will keep this information confidential and will only use your contact information to invite you to take part in this survey.

Once the survey is finished, ORIMA Research will securely destroy your contact details.

Privacy and data protection

Your privacy

All personal information will be kept confidential. Nobody will be able to identify you in any published results. ORIMA Research will securely remove your personal data from its systems within 6 months of survey completion.

For more information, about your privacy rights and accessing, amending and deleting your data, go to the full Privacy Policy: orima.com.au/paris_survey-privacy

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of information that an Internet website sends to your browser when you access information at that site. Cookies are either stored in memory (session cookies) or placed on your hard disk (persistent cookies).

ORIMA Research only uses persistent cookies for some surveys, for the convenience of users when returning to the survey website.

Blocking these cookies does not hinder the operation of the surveys.

On closing your browser, the session cookie set by this website is destroyed and no Personal Information is maintained which might identify you should you visit our website later.

ORIMA Research may also automatically capture information about your operating system, display settings and browser type, including the IP address, to ensure that the survey questionnaire is delivered in a form suited to the software your computer or mobile device is using.

ORIMA Research does not capture any other information from your computer.

How did you get my contact details?

Your GP Practice may have shared a limited amount of your personal data with ORIMA Research so that ORIMA could invite you to take part in this research. This data is: • Your name, email address and mobile phone number

Your data will be kept confidential and your contact details will only be used to invite you to take part in the survey and if necessary, to remind you about the invitation to participate.

Once the survey is finished, ORIMA Research will securely destroy your contact details.

How long will my personal data and identifiable responses be held for?

ORIMA Research will only hold your data in a way that can identify you for as long as is necessary to support the research project and findings.

This means that once the anonymous findings have been reported in an acceptable way, your personal identifying data will be securely removed from ORIMA Research’s systems.

For this study, personal data will be securely removed within 6 months of survey completion.

Do you have access to my health data?

No, absolutely not. ORIMA Research have not been given any information about your health, clinical conditions or any measurements – this remains confidential between you and your GP.

How is my GP involved in this survey?

Your GP practice is participating in the survey and a representative of the practice will complete a survey on behalf of the practice with questions about the services and care the practice offers.

They have facilitated the process of patients being sent this survey.

After the survey has been completed, they will have access to the anonymous, statistical results for their practice.

Your GP will not know if you choose to participate and will not have access to your individual answers.

What is the survey number/number code associated with my survey?

Your name will not be attributed or attached to the information collected in this survey.

Instead, a PIN has been assigned to each person participating in the survey.

This PIN is only used to allow you to exit and return to the survey. It is not linked to your contact details.

Staff at the GP practice you go to will not know if you choose to participate and will not have access to your answers.