The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has this week published the results of their latest annual survey of hospital inpatients.
The results show that patient satisfaction levels are largely unchanged since 2022, however, remain significantly worse than they were pre-pandemic.
Furthermore, continued frustration with waiting times and an increase in the number of patients who felt that their health had worsened while waiting to be admitted for elective care.
What is the survey of hospital inpatients?
The survey is an annual process that looks to capture the views and experiences of patients as to the care they receive as an inpatient.
This has been carried out annually since 2002 and is the longest running survey in CQC’s NHS Patient Survey Programme.
Patients are asked to give opinions on the care they received.
What does the most recent survey show?
The most recent survey surveyed more than 63,500 of people who stayed in one of 131 acute and specialist NHS Trusts in England for at least one night during November 2023.
Overall, the results of the most recent survey show that people’s experiences of inpatient care have certainly deteriorated since 2020, although the results were generally consistent with the findings in 2021 and 2022.
Whilst most respondents reported a positive experience in their interactions with doctors and nurses, discharge from the hospital remains a challenging part of people’s experiences of care.
Responses showed that fewer people felt involved in decisions about their discharge, with less than half feeling that they were given enough notice before being sent home.
In addition, experiences of hospital waiting times have continued to decline. More people felt that they had to wait too long for treatment. Just over four in ten people felt their health had worsened.
Key areas for improvement
- 29% of respondents said they had little to no involvement in decisions about their discharge, compared to 24% in 2022.
- 23% of elective patients said they would like to have been admitted ‘a bit sooner’, and 19% said they would like to have been admitted ‘a lot’ sooner.
- 43% of elective patients said their health deteriorated while waiting to be admitted to hospital.
- 18% of respondents felt they had to wait ‘far too long’ to get to a bed on a ward after admission.
Responses to the most recent survey show that people admitted for emergency care, those who were considered frail, and those with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, or a condition affecting their mobility all reported poorer than average experiences for most questions.
What happens next?
The survey findings have been shared with each participant Trust so that they can review their own individual results and take steps to address any areas where improvements are required.
The CQC will use the findings as part of its wider monitoring of the quality of hospital services and to plan and target its inspections.
CQC’s Director of Secondary and Specialist Healthcare, Nicola Wise, said:
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t seen more improvement in patient experience since the last time the survey was carried out. Overall, satisfaction rates remain far lower than they were pre-Covid with delays in accessing care and poorly coordinated discharge from hospital both clear factors impacting on the quality of people’s hospital stay.
It’s also concerning that we’ve seen an increase in the number of people who feel their health deteriorated while they awaited for elective care – further evidence that the current imbalance between patient demand and treatment capacity is putting people at risk.
What is encouraging is that the majority of people surveyed continue to report positively about their interactions with staff – we know that staff and leaders are doing all they can to minimise delays, manage the flow of patients from admission through to discharge and provide compassionate person-centred care.
But as pressure persists, ensuring the best possible experience throughout the entirety of the patient journey is a task that needs input from all parts of the health and care system. It also needs to be supported by continued efforts to address staff shortages, improve retention of our highly skilled workforce, and ensure recognition of the commitment and dedication from frontline staff.”
Comment
Whilst it can be seen as positive that experiences have stayed relatively consistent over the last two years or so, meaning that things have not gotten worse as such, it has to be considered in light of the overall picture of significantly worse experiences than pre-pandemic.
Furthermore, is it positive when you consider that there has actually been very little to no improvement in certain areas?
How much longer will it take for services to return to those pre-pandemic levels?
Is that even possible?
The overall pressures on the NHS are highly unlikely to lessen without significant investment and support from the Government to make the changes that are needed.
It is now important to see that Trusts are reflecting on their own results and taking the action required in order to start to see improvements in the surveys to come in the future, whilst it remains for the Government to take wider action to improve the NHS as a whole.
How can we help?
Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which is ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500, and Commended in The Times Best Law Firms 2024.
If you have any questions about the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Danielle or another team member in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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