The development of a tool to measure service user satisfaction with in-patient forensic services: The Forensic Satisfaction Scale.

Background: Service-user satisfaction helps determine the quality of services. No valid measure of service-user satisfaction in forensic mental health settings has been developed.

Aims: To develop and validate a scale designed to measure satisfaction with forensic mental health services.

Method: Participants were from three forensic mental health units. Items generated from focus groups were developed into a self-report scale and factor analysed. This was administered with a non-forensic satisfaction self-report scale, the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (VSSS) and assessed for internal consistency and validity.

Results: A 60-item scale was produced comprising seven subscales recording moderate to high levels of internal consistency and concurrent validity with the VSSS.

Conclusions: The scale is a promising instrument for assessing service-user satisfaction with forensic mental health in-patient services.