In 2024, 19 Urgent Care Clinics across the country sent the College the results of their clinic-patient feedback surveys. These results have now been collated, summarised and a new set of standardised survey questions have been developed.

In total, there were 1,490 patient responses to these survey questions. However, each clinic has their own set of questions, making it difficult to analyse the results. To solve this, all of the responses have been combined to fit into a single, standardised set of questions that can be used nationally and to be in line with the Urgent Care Standard.

The analysis identified five themes that the questions fall under, these were: reception, clinician bedside manner, care and treatment, discharge and follow-up, cultural safety and privacy, and the overall clinic environment.

Key findings:

• Reception: 95–96% positive on friendliness, respect, and helpful answers.
• Clinician bedside manner: 92–96% felt listened to, respected, and given enough time. Trust was strong (86%).
• Care & treatment: 93–97% understood diagnoses and instructions, felt informed, and were happy with their clinician. Involvement of whānau was slightly lower (84%).
• Follow-up: Clear aftercare instructions were less consistent, with 70–75% reporting clarity and 25% noting gaps.
• Cultural safety & privacy: 88–92% felt their privacy and cultural needs were respected.
• Clinic environment: Nearly all patients (96–98%) were happy with the clinic environment, access, and overall visit.

These questions have been revised twice. The first revision has been done so that the questions can fit into a “Likert” scale survey format (scale Strongly Agree – Strongly Disagree), which is the format that the College is adapting for all of its surveys. The second revision was done to rewrite the questions to suit patients with a health literacy age of 12-13 years (year 7 at school) as recommended by Health NZ and the Ministry of Health, to boost patient engagement and improve equitable outcomes, and to improve the accuracy of the data being captured.

Here’s a preview of 10 questions from this summary, rated on a Strongly Agree–Strongly Disagree scale:

  1. The people at the front desk listened to my questions and gave me helpful answers.
  2. The nurse or doctor treated me well, respected me, and was polite.
  3. The nurse or doctor listened carefully to my worries and questions.
  4. The nurse or doctor spent enough time talking to me about my health problem.
  5. I felt safe and trusted the nurse or doctor during my visit.
  6. The nurse or doctor told me about different ways to treat my health problem, and I got to ask questions about them.
  7. Me, my family or whānau were included in the decisions about my health plan.
  8. I know what to do next for my health (my follow-up plan) and when I should go back to see a doctor or get more help.
  9. The staff respected my culture, religion, and personal values and beliefs during my visit.
  10. My privacy was respected during my visit (meaning my private information wasn’t shared without my permission).

Click here to read the full summary, with the included methodology.