Observations and recommendations for assessing patient satisfaction in a primary care setting using a previously validated questionnaire

Within the rapidly changing climate of primary care, there is an increasing need to evaluate the reactions of patients to real and proposed changes in practice. There are a number of methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative which have been employed to do this. This article presents the methodological problems which may be encountered in evaluating patients’ opinions and attitudes in a primary care setting. We begin by discussing the issues which need evaluation, then describe the research process of a recent case study which aimed to evaluate patient satisfaction using a previously validated survey instrument, including the modifications which had to be made to overcome the problems of research in a real life practice setting. We then discuss the strengths and weaknesses of applying different methodological instruments within a primary care setting, and propose a mixed methodological framework as a template for future research which combines the strengths of both large scale survey and small scale qualitative methods to give more insight into the concerns and beliefs of patients as changes occur within their local practice.