Consumer experience

Patient experience matters.

SA Health is committed to ensuring that the experience of consumers using its services is as positive as possible, where every patient’s needs, values and preferences are respected. In order to achieve this goal, a number of processes have been put in place to assist SA Health to measure and understand our consumer’s experience, which includes consumer feedback and complaints.

Asking patients to report on their experiences by responding to specific survey questions about whether or not certain processes and events occurred during an episode of care supports our efforts to place consumers at the focus of health care safety and quality improvements.

Questions about our patients’ demographics such as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, variations in sex or gender identity, and patients who speak a language at home other than English, helps us to understand key characteristics and the individual needs of our diverse and multicultural community.

The South Australian Consumer Experience Surveillance System (SACESS) was an epidemiological surveillance system involving a monthly sample of randomly selected South Australian adults, aged 16 years or more who had received overnight care in a public hospital. Data was obtained by means of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology. The SACESS was conducted until January 2024.

Currently, the South Australian Hospital Experience Survey is being transitioned to a digital format with delivery via text message to all patients discharged home from an overnight stay in a public hospital. This enables a greater number of patients to have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback on their experience. The new digital delivery is being implemented across each Local Health Network throughout 2024 – 2025.

Measuring Consumer Experience reports

The Measuring Consumer Experience South Australian Public Hospital Annual Report details the key findings and further analysis of consumer experiences to ensure we meet the best standards for our consumers.

See the Safety and quality reports page for the latest Measuring Experience Report. 

Contact

Safety and Quality Unit
Email: Health.DHWClinicalGovernanceEnquiries@sa.gov.au