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Hospital experiences improving, national survey reveals

Hospital experiences improving, national survey reveals
9 April 2014



People are generally having a better experience in hospital than a year ago but the quality of their stays can vary, a national survey has revealed. 
In the Care Quality Commission (CQC) commissioned survey around one in four people rated their overall experience in hospital as 10 out of 10. 
Over 62,400 people gave their opinions on the care they received, including on the information provided by staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the cleanliness of their wards, and on their discharge arrangements.

People are generally having a better experience in hospital than a year ago but the quality of their stays can vary, a national survey has revealed. 
In the Care Quality Commission (CQC) commissioned survey around one in four people rated their overall experience in hospital as 10 out of 10. 
Over 62,400 people gave their opinions on the care they received, including on the information provided by staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the cleanliness of their wards, and on their discharge arrangements.
More than seven in ten (71%) rated their overall experience as eight or above. Close to a third (27%) as 10 out of 10; up from 69% and 25% in 2012.
More than half (54%) felt that they were “definitely” involved in decisions about their discharge from hospital – an increase from 53% in 2012. 
However, this still leaves 46% who did not feel fully involved. And 41% of those surveyed said that their discharge from hospital was delayed, representing no change from last year.
The delay was for longer than four hours for around one in four (24%) of these people. Waiting for medicines was the most common reason.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals said: “It is encouraging that the results for many of the questions in the survey show improvements, with areas such as information provision, cleanliness and privacy all performing better than last year. However, scope for continued improvement remains, including with how patients are involved in their discharge arrangements.
“I would like NHS trusts to reflect on their survey results to understand what their patients really think about the care and treatment they provide. This will help them to identify what they need to change.
“Gathering feedback from people who use services is at the heart of our new approach to regulation. We will use information from the survey as part of our wider monitoring of hospitals, to help us determine what we should inspect and when.”

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