Background: The era of patient-focused care has brought a new dimension to medical treatment. Now, as well as looking for therapies that work effectively, they must also be acceptable to patients. Previous studies in this department have shown that stone clearance rates with lithotripsy compare favourably with national standards, but very little work has been done regarding patient's own perception of the experience.
Methods: A postal survey was conducted of all patients attending the lithotripsy unit over a period of 1 year, questioning their opinion of all aspects of the treatment. The results were analysed by conversion to a numerical score.
Results: On the whole, patients expressed satisfaction, but they were more dissatisfied with the stone clearance than any other aspect of their treatment. In the light of a previous study, it was felt that the patients' expectations were unrealistic. As a result, we changed our practice such that patients attending the unit have a better idea of the likelihood of success.
Conclusions: This was a simple and cost-effective exercise, that has generated some valuable data which can be used to improve the entire patient experience.