Whose Quality is It? Young People Report on a Participatory Research Project to Explore the Involvement of Children in Monitoring Quality of Care in Hospital

While helping with the analysis of interviews about our views, we found that privacy, good technical skills, explanations, choice and friendly staff were factors that contributed to care being rated as excellent. We decided to ask years 5 and 6 and year 9 what aspects of hospital care they would use to rate 'good' or 'bad' and whether they thought they should be asked their views. (We tried to get children's nurses' views about whether children should be asked but only received II replies). 100 per cent (n=45) of the year 9s answered 'me' to the question of who should be asked about quality compared with 77.25 per cent (n=63) of the years 5 and 6. We confirmed the five quality factors we had identified and gained more understanding of what each involved. Responses indicated that privacy should be broadened and we agreed on using the term 'respect'. Based on these findings we recommend (among other things) that when drawing up your standards you should emphasise technical expertise, the attitudes of staff and the need for respect. Aim for giving choice where possible and don't forget the explanations.