Helplines helping each other with evaluation

At the THA masterclass in Glasgow last month a number of helplines were discussing the best methods of getting responses from callers to our evaluation questionnaires.  It was suggested that just sending questionnaires in the mail, or electronically, puts the onus on the caller to respond and might not elicit such a high response rate as verbally asking them about their experience of the service.  To ensure that they could speak freely and reduce bias, we thought it would be a good idea to arrange for a member of one helpline to phone the callers of another. 

For example:

• At the end of each call, my team and I would ask the caller for permission for someone to call them back (within an agreed time period) and ask them a few questions about how they had found the quality of our service. 
• If they agreed, we would collect their name and telephone number and pass these on in confidence to another helpline. 
• Each week someone from the other helpline would call the people on our list and fill out our questionnaire with them over the phone. 
• They would then email or post the replies back to us to collate. 
• We would willingly do the same for another helpline with their evaluation.

At Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland Advice Line we are starting our annual caller evaluation in September, so anyone willing to be involved please post a reply to me on this forum.

Thanks!