Starting this week patients will be approached about their experience at the Island's two hospitals as part of the facility's accreditation programme.

The last time the Canadian Council on Health Service (CCHSA) did an on-site review was in 2005 and part of the new process will also be about approaching patients and giving them the chance to participate.

Patients will be approached by the CCHSA members and asked if they can follow them through their experience in the hospital.

It's what the CCHSA terms the "Tracer Method" and Judy Richardson, the Director of Quality and Risk Management at KEMH urged patients not to worry about their confidentiality.

She said: "CCHSA surveyors will be on site between 18 and 22 May. They are reviewing all services at MAWI and KEMH. With the new tracer methodology, staff, patients and visitors could be approached by the surveyors.

"Surveyors will be wearing BHB Temporary ID, and they will identify who they are. For patients and visitors, all they will want to ask is questions about their experience while with us.

"Please be open and honest. Your confidentiality is assured and your responses will help us see where we are working well, and what needs to be improved."

The "Tracer Method" is part of the CCHSA's new streamlined process which is trying to outline better standards for a more effective accreditation programme.

In the Bermuda Ombudsman report that was released last year "A Tale of Two Hospitals" one of the recommendations was to change from the CCHSA to the US Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organisations. It stated that this would offer a more robust method for data collection and ongoing follow-up.

The Health Minister Nelson Bascome in his hospitals' budget report to the House of Assembly this year said the accreditation process with the CCHSA was too far along to change. He also stressed that the new process would be similar to what the ombudsman report had recommended. "No longer does the CCHSA view accreditation as a once every three years event, but an ongoing process, where staff are surveyed and patient journeys through the hospital are carefully followed to ensure processes are sound," he said, "While the Ombudsman recommended a move to an American accreditation body Joint Commission International (JCI) in November, BHB was too far advanced through the CCHSA process to change this year.

"However it should be noted that the CCHSA process and standards have moved closer to JCI since the Ombudsman report."