Royal Stoke patient experience rated highly in latest survey

Hundreds of patients have rated their experience at the Royal Stoke University Hospital highly, according to a latest survey. A total of 444 adults who were inpatients at both the Royal Stoke and County Hospital in November 2023 completed the questionnaire.

They rated their overall experience with University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) as 8.3 out of 10 – a small increase from eight the previous year. The answers were analysed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the results were published last month in the form of the Adult Inpatient Survey 2023.

The survey covered a wide range of topics, such as waiting times, privacy and dignity, cleanliness, the standard of care received, food and drink, staffing levels, and patient discharges. Responses were then converted into scores out of ten for each question and compared against those from other trusts.

There were no questions for which UHNM was rated as worse than other trusts, but it did score better than most in three questions relating to not being prevented from sleeping by noise at night from other patients, being given enough information on the care and treatment they would receive on a virtual ward, and expected care and support being available when needed after leaving hospital.

UHNM improved its scores from the previous year in areas including feeling they did not have to wait a long time to get to a bed on a ward, feeling that there were enough nurses on duty to care for them, overall environment of the hospital or ward including cleanliness, noise, quality of food, being given enough information on their condition or treatment, and being treated with respect and dignity.

The highest rated question scored 9.6 out of 10, relating to whether patients were given enough privacy when being examined or treated. A large proportion of the free text comments positively reflected staff, care and treatment.

The report also highlighted several areas of improvement for the trust where scores declined compared to last year. These include patients feeling that they waited the right amount of time on the waiting list before being admitted and being able to get help from a member of staff when needed.

Ann-Marie Riley, Chief Nursing Officer at UHNM, said: “We are committed to providing the best possible care to all of our patients, so feedback provided via the Adult Inpatient Survey – both positive and negative – will help us learn and enhance patient experience. We are pleased to have seen improvements in a number of areas compared to last year and keen to build on these positives and we will work with clinical colleagues in areas where we know we can improve.

“Thank you to the hundreds of people who took the time to get involved and have their say, helping us to shape our services for future patients.”

Nationally, the results show that patient satisfaction levels are largely unchanged since 2022 but remain significantly worse than pre-pandemic.

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