| Specification of QI strategy | Total | Ireland | Belgium | France | Spain | Poland | Czech Republic |
| Monitoring the views of patients/performing patient surveys (n = 344) | 344 | 22 | 23 | 66 | 104 | 75 | 37 |
| 1 | 64.5 | 54.5 | 60.9 | 56.1 | 67.3 | 61.3 | 91.9 |
| 2 | 14 | 18.2 | 13.0 | 13.6 | 11.5 | 14.7 | 8.1 |
| 3 | 15.7 | 27.3 | 13.0 | 21.2 | 16.3 | 16.0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4.7 | 0 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 0 |
| Analysis of patient complaints (n = 350) | 350 | 23 | 24 | 66 | 106 | 73 | 38 |
| 1 | 85.7 | 82.6 | 83.3 | 83.3 | 88.7 | 84.0 | 92.1 |
| 2 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| 3 | 5.4 | 8.7 | 4.2 | 9.1 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 0 |
| 4 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Patient involvement in‡: | |||||||
| Discussing the results of patient surveys and complaints handling (n = 345) | 345 | 23 | 24 | 63 | 105 | 75 | 38 |
| 1 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 0 | 20.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 7.9 |
| 2 | 6.7 | 4.3 | 8.3 | 19.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 2.6 |
| 3 | 19.1 | 30.4 | 12.5 | 30.2 | 17.1 | 9.3 | 15.8 |
| 4 | 60.6 | 52.2 | 70.8 | 22.2 | 74.3 | 76.0 | 68.4 |
| The development of quality criteria/standards (n = 348) | 348 | 23 | 24 | 65 | 106 | 75 | 38 |
| 1 | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 1.3 | 7.9 |
| 2 | 2.3 | 8.7 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 |
| 3 | 16.1 | 34.8 | 16.7 | 16.9 | 7.5 | 9.3 | 10.5 |
| 4 | 73.6 | 52.2 | 70.8 | 72.3 | 86.8 | 77.3 | 76.3 |
| Designing protocols (n = 345) | 345 | 22 | 24 | 65 | 104 | 75 | 38 |
| 1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | 5.3 |
| 2 | 1.7 | 4.5 | 0 | 3.1 | 0 | 2.7 | 0 |
| 3 | 15.1 | 27.3 | 8.3 | 24.6 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 0 |
| 4 | 76.5 | 63.6 | 83.3 | 70.8 | 86.5 | 77.3 | 89.5 |
| The evaluation of achieving quality objectives (n = 347) | 347 | 23 | 24 | 66 | 104 | 75 | 38 |
| 1 | 4.9 | 0 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 5.3 |
| 2 | 7.2 | 13.0 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 1.9 | 10.7 | 2.6 |
| 3 | 20.5 | 56.5 | 16.7 | 40.9 | 8.7 | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| 4 | 61.4 | 26.1 | 58.3 | 42.4 | 82.7 | 61.3 | 78.9 |
| Participation in (quality) committees (n = 345) | 345 | 23 | 24 | 66 | 104 | 73 | 37 |
| 1 | 7.0 | 8.7 | 0 | 25.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.7 |
| 2 | 2.6 | 8.7 | 0 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 |
| 3 | 18.6 | 30.4 | 12.5 | 47.0 | 12.5 | 2.7 | 0 |
| 4 | 65.5 | 43.5 | 79.2 | 21.2 | 80.8 | 82.2 | 89.2 |
| Participation in improvement projects (n = 342) | 342 | 22 | 22 | 66 | 103 | 74 | 38 |
| 1 | 3.5 | 9.1 | 0 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 7.9 |
| 2 | 5.8 | 9.1 | 0 | 10.6 | 1.9 | 6.8 | 0 |
| 3 | 27.5 | 40.9 | 22.7 | 53.0 | 21.4 | 13.5 | 5.3 |
| 4 | 57.0 | 36.4 | 68.2 | 30.3 | 67.0 | 68.9 | 81.6 |
| Patients’ opinion about quality of care asked at discharge (for patients with acute myocardial infarction) (n = 319) | 319 | 22 | 24 | 49 | 102 | 69 | 37 |
| 1 | 34.5 | 22.7 | 37.5 | 69.4 | 39.2 | 8.7 | 40.5 |
| 2 | 15.4 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 12.7 | 15.9 | 27.0 |
| 3 | 23.8 | 18.2 | 37.5 | 8.2 | 22.5 | 24.6 | 29.7 |
| 4 | 20.7 | 31.8 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 22.5 | 43.5 | 2.7 |
| Patients’ opinion about quality of care asked at discharge (for patients with appendicitis) (n = 313) | 313 | 22 | 21 | 51 | 100 | 71 | 34 |
| 1 | 39.6 | 22.7 | 47.6 | 76.5 | 44.0 | 8.5 | 47.1 |
| 2 | 14.7 | 18.2 | 4.8 | 13.7 | 10.0 | 19.7 | 17.6 |
| 3 | 19.8 | 18.2 | 23.8 | 3.9 | 24.0 | 21.1 | 20.6 |
| 4 | 19.2 | 22.7 | 14.3 | 2.0 | 21.0 | 36.6 | 11.8 |
| Patients’ opinion about quality of care asked at discharge (patients at maternal service) (n = 301) | 301 | 18 | 24 | 50 | 87 | 73 | 34 |
| 1 | 44.9 | 27.8 | 41.7 | 50.0 | 44.8 | 24.7 | 50.0 |
| 2 | 14.6 | 11.1 | 16.7 | 11.8 | 14.9 | 20.5 | 11.8 |
| 3 | 14.0 | 11.1 | 16.7 | 23.5 | 14.9 | 15.1 | 23.5 |
| 4 | 15.3 | 22.2 | 20.8 | 2.9 | 17.2 | 24.7 | 2.9 |
*The results for the UK and the Netherlands are included in the total but not listed separately, due to the very low response rates. †The sum of percentages may not always equal 100%; the percentage answers “don’t know/no answer” are not listed here. 1 = yes, in most departments (>50%); 2 = yes, in most departments (>50%), but not systematically; 3 = yes, in some departments (<50%); 4 = no. ‡From this point on the answer categories 1–4 should be read as: 1 = yes always; 2 = most of the time; 3 = sometimes; 4 = no.