STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY
This study used standardised patients (SPs) to assess chronic care in which actual, rather than simulated, patients were trained before their upcoming clinic visits.Traditional SP techniques require a trained simulated patient to visit multiple clinics, a strategy more appropriate for episodic care.Modified SP approaches can address the challenge of integrating patient experience into routine public health, a crucial quality indicator for governments and funders.We trained patients to assess care quality (eg, waiting times, rude providers), and compared their responses with traditional untrained exit surveys in 16 facilities in Zambia.Training remains challenging as we did not include participants who were illiterate, had poor recall ability or potentially struggled with comprehension.