Friends and Family Test (FFT)

At Sheffield Teaching Hospitals we want to ensure that you have the best possible experience. Patients, carers, friends and family are welcome to leave feedback at any point. Your feedback will help us to improve our hospital services and celebrate our successes with those members of staff who looked after you.

One way to give feedback is through the Friends and Family Test (FFT).

The NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) was created to help services understand whether patients are happy with the service provided, or where improvements are needed. It's a quick and anonymous way to give your views after receiving care or treatment.

The FFT is used by most NHS services including community care, hospitals, mental health services, maternity services, GP and dental practices, emergency care, and patient transport.

It is a very short survey that just asks "Overall, how was your experience of our service?"

You can rank your answer from "very good" to "very poor". You'll have the opportunity to explain your score by adding comments, and you may also be asked some follow-up questions. This is important because we can only make changes if we know exactly what is or is not working.

You can complete the short survey while you are in the hospital on a feedback card which are available in most patient areas and then post this into one of the silver boxes which are at most exits. You may also be contacted after you have gone home by text message or voice message. You can also give feedback online at anytime here.

Your answer is voluntary and we won’t know whether you have responded or not. But if you do answer, your feedback will provide valuable information for the service to celebrate positive feedback and identify opportunities to make improvements.

Around 9 out of 10 patients give positive feedback about NHS services when completing the FFT. This lets staff know that their efforts have been appreciated. Information about what could have been better is used to continuously improve services.

Your answer will not be traced back to you, and your details will not be passed on to anyone. A friend or family member is welcome to answer the question if you're unable to.

We collect the results and analyse them to see if any action is needed. The responses to the FFT question will be used to create an overall score that will be published on the NHS England website. The anonymous comments from service users are retained by the service and passed on to staff and managers.

Please note, as the Friends and Family Test is anonymous, and we are not able to respond directly to any comments you make. Please do not provide identifiable information (name, contact number, address) in your response. If you have a comment to which you would like a response, please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) Team on 0114 271 2400 or email sth.pals@nhs.net

Learn more about the Friends & Family Test with the videos below.