During patient shadowing a project member follows a patient through their visit to the health service and documents the experience.
Why use it
Shadowing is used to identify exactly what happens during a patient visit to a service, including:
- Learning about people's movements through the service
- Measuring behaviours, e.g. number of visits and waiting times
- Helping you see things through the eyes of a patient.
When to use it
Use shadowing when you want to identify existing experiences and behaviours. Once you have done this, you can later check the impacts improvements have made using the same method.
What to observe
- How easy or difficult it is for patients to find their way around the hospital.
- How long patients have to wait to be seen.
- How patients are treated by members of staff.
- What questions patients ask.
- What forms patients are asked to fill in.
- How many staff members patients interact with.