Children and young people's survey 2020

Page last updated: 12 May 2022

What we found

Most children and young people, and their parents, continue to report positive experiences about many important aspects of care and treatment. Many children and young people told us that overall, they were treated well by staff, that staff were friendly and gave them privacy during treatment. Most children told us that staff always answered their questions and listened to what they had to say. However, children were less positive about feeling involved in decisions about their care and knowing what was going to happen next with after leaving hospital. Some children and young people also reported poorer experiences around having enough to do in the hospital or being played with.

Positive results

Overall experiences

93% of children and young people felt they had been looked after either ‘very well’ (73%) or ‘quite well’ (20%).
89% of children and young people said staff were ‘always’ friendly, an increase from 2016 and 2018 (both 87%).
94% of children and young people said staff spoke with them about any worries they had.
85% of parents and carers of children aged 0 to 15 rated their child’s experience as 8 or more out of 10.

Interactions with staff

95% of children and young people felt able to ask staff questions. Out of those who asked staff questions, 93% said that their questions were answered.
85% of children said that staff ‘always’ listened to what they had to say.
92% of young people aged 12 to 15 felt able to speak to a doctor or nurse without their parent or carer being there.
88% of children and young people said that hospital staff spoke with them about how they were going to care for them.
93% of parents and carers said that staff agreed a plan for their child’s care with them.

Privacy

86% of children and young people said they were always given enough privacy when receiving care and treatment.
89% of parents and carers of children aged 0 to 7 said their child was ‘always’ given enough privacy when receiving care and treatment.

Cleanliness

77% of parents and carers said that the environment was ‘very clean’. This is a statistically significant 10 percentage point increase on 2016 and 2018 (both 67%). This finding likely reflects enhanced infection prevention and control measures in children’s services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operations and procedures

93% of children and young people who had an operation, or a procedure said that staff explained to them what would be done.
91% of parents and carers of children and young people who had an operation or a procedure said that staff ‘completely’ answered their questions beforehand.

Key areas for improvement

Information and involvement

46% of children and young people said they were involved ‘a lot’ in decisions about their care and treatment. Children aged 8 to 11 were less likely to say they were involved ‘a lot’ (43%) than children aged 12 to 15 (48%).

Play and activities

44% of children and young people said that there were enough things for them to do in hospital – a statistically significant decline from 50% in 2018 and 51% in 2016.
41% of children aged 8 to 11 said staff did not play or do activities with them.
43% of parents and carers of children aged 0 to 7 said that their child ‘definitely’ had enough to do in hospital. This is a statistically significant large decline from 2018 (61%) and 2016 (63%).

Food and hospital facilities

52% of children and young people said that they liked the hospital food.
47% of children and young people who needed to sleep said that it was ‘always’ quiet enough to sleep.
28% of parents and carers were able to get a hot drink from a kitchen area or parents’ room and 21% said they had access to a café or vending machine. 61% of parents said they were unable to prepare food while staying at hospital. This is likely a result of restrictions on services due to COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures.

Pain management

82% of children and young people who experienced pain felt that staff did everything they could to help. This leaves 14% who said staff ‘sort of’ helped and 4% who said they felt staff did not do everything they could to help.

Leaving hospital

68% of children and young people said they knew what was going to happen next when they left hospital.
79% of children and young people said staff gave them advice about how to care for themselves when they got home.
72% of parents and carers ‘definitely’ knew what was going to happen next with their child’s care.

How experience varies for different groups of people

Children aged 8 to 11, children and young people with mental health conditions, those who stayed on an adult ward or received surgical instead of medical care reported consistently poorer than average experiences across many care themes. Parents and carers of these children also reported poorer experiences. Parents of children aged 0 to 7 reported more negative experiences across multiple areas of care.

Results for NHS trusts

Each trust was provided with a benchmark report, which provides more detail about the data.

You can view these reports on the NHS surveys website.

Reports

2020 Children and Young People’s Survey: Statistical release

2020 Children and Young People’s Survey: Trust outliers

How will results be used?

We will use the results from the survey in the regulation, monitoring and inspection of NHS trusts. Survey data will be used to help us assess how trusts are performing. Survey data will also form a key source of evidence to support the judgements and inspection ratings published for trusts.

Other organisations

NHS trusts

Trusts and commissioners are expected to take action to improve services based on the results.

NHS England and NHS Improvement; and the Department for Health and Social Care

Information collected nationally in a consistent way is essential to support public and Parliamentary accountability. The results are used by NHS England and NHS Improvement; and the Department of Health and Social Care for performance assessment, improvement and regulatory purposes.