Your Experience of Service (YES) surveys
About the Your Experience of Service Surveys (YES, YES CMO, YES CMO SF, YES PHN)
Mental health consumers' experiences of health care have long been identified by services, consumers, carers and families as being important in understanding how health services are performing and to drive service quality improvement. Substantial work has been undertaken in Australia and internationally to establish processes that regularly capture information on the perspectives of consumers and their carers about the health care they receive.
At the national level, there has been strong interest amongst the states and territories in the development of a standardised, national measure of mental health consumer experiences of care which could support quality improvement, service evaluation and benchmarking between services. In 2010, the Australian Government Department of Health funded the National Mental Health Consumer Experiences of Care project to develop a survey for use in public mental health services. This project resulted in the development of the Your Experience of Service (YES) survey instrument, made available to the sector in 2015. The YES survey is designed to gather information from consumers about their experiences of care. By helping to identify specific areas where quality improvements can be made, the YES can support collaboration between mental health services and consumers to build better services. Read the final report on the development of the YES: the National Mental Health Consumer Experiences of Care Project: Final Report.
The community managed organisation (CMO) sector expressed strong interest in using the YES, however it was noted that some of the language made it not entirely suitable for CMO use. Following advice from an Expert Working Group, the YES CMO survey, and a Short Form (YES CMO SF), were subsequently developed. Read the Final Report on the development of the YES CMO and YES CMO SF Surveys.
Subsequently, work was undertaken to develop a version of the YES that was suitable for use in Primary Health Networks (PHNs). This measure is known as the YES PHN Survey. Read the Final Report on the development of the YES PHN Survey.
Sample copies
The YES, YES CMO, YES CMO SF and the YES PHN surveys are being made available by the Australian Government Department of Health. Sample copies of the surveys are available to view:
How to apply for a licence
The terms and conditions of the licence agreements for use of the YES instruments aim to promote consistency of use. If you would like to use any of the YES surveys, it is a simple and quick process. Click on the "Apply here" licence application link below for the YES Survey you which to use (i.e., YES / YES CMO / YES PHN). We ask you to provide some basic applicant information, review and agree to the terms and conditions of the licence agreement and then click on submit. There is no expiration date for the licences to use the surveys.
Guidance for using the YES surveys
These documents provide guidance to organisations planning to introduce the YES, YES CMO, YES CMO SF and YES PHN surveys.
- YES Survey Guidance for Use
- YES CMO Survey Guidance for Use (includes YES CMO SF)
- YES PHN Survey Guidance for Use
- AMHOCN Online training modules
Online training in using the YES surveys
AMHOCN provides online training in the YES surveys. Go to our online learning site and follow the link to Experience Measure Training. You will need to register via the site to access the training and will receive a certificate upon completion of the training module.
Reporting of the experience of service measures
Following a review and sector consultation on the domain structure that underpins the YES survey/s, the Mental Health Information Strategy Standing Committee (MHISSC) endorsed a set of domains that are suitable for reporting across these experience surveys - YES, YES CMO, YES PHN and CES. A domain is simply a collection of items that reports on a single construct. Domains have been identified, particularly by jurisdictions, as a useful way of reporting the results of the YES survey to stakeholders. Go to Reporting domains of the experience of service measures: YES, YES CMO, YES PHN, CES to view information about the domains of the YES, YES CMO, YES PHN and CES.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) regularly reports on consumer-rated experiences of care in Australian public mental health services using the YES survey. Several states currently contribute data and service settings included in the reporting are ambulatory (non-admitted) services, residential (overnight) services, and admitted (hospital) services. To find out more, go to: Consumer perspectives of mental health care