Survey finds patients positive about their hospital stay

The latest survey of almost 59,000 inpatients published today (21 May) indicates the majority of respondents are positive about their hospital stay, with 84% rating their experience seven or above out of 10.

Out of those, one in four (27%) rated their overall experience as ten out of ten.

The survey is based on the replies of people who stayed in one of 154 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England for at least one night during June, July or August 2014.

The survey asked people a range of questions about the care and treatment they received. This included: whether they were given enough information, whether they were involved in decisions about their care, whether there were enough nurses to care for them, whether the wards were noisy and clean and what arrangements were in place for when they left hospital.

Some of the other results were:

• Over three quarters (77%) of people said they were ‘always’ well looked after during their hospital stay
• Two out of five said they experienced a delay when it was time to leave the hospital.
• 81% of respondents said that they were ‘always’ treated with dignity and respect
• 78% of respondents ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the nurses treating them and 80% ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them.
• Nearly one in four (24%, up from 23% in 2013) could not find someone on the hospital staff to talk to about their worries and fears, and 13% (down from 14% in 2013) did not get enough emotional support from hospital staff

Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, said: “Despite the pressures facing the NHS, many patients are reporting positive experiences about their care.

“This is not the case in every hospital. The results from the survey mirror the findings from our own inspections which highlight the significant variation between trusts.

“Every patient deserves to receive the best care possible so trusts need to review their results to see where they can make improvements.”

Along with the national findings, CQC has published the results for each of the 154 acute and specialist NHS trusts that took part so that people can look at and compare the performance of their local services.