A survey of inpatients’ experience of services at 144 acute NHS Trusts across England has shown that the RUH in Bath is performing at ‘about the same’ level as most other hospitals in the country.
The findings are included in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 2018 Adult Inpatient Survey.
Nationally, more than 76,500 people took part, answering questions about their experience in hospital ranging from ‘Did you have confidence and trust in the doctors treating you?’ and ‘Were there enough nurses on duty to care for you’ to ‘Were you given enough privacy when being examined?’
The RUH Trust results are based on the responses of 565 inpatients at the Trust in July 2018. The response rate was 48%, compared to the national average of 45%.
The RUH scored better than most Trusts for one question – ‘Did you feel you were involved in decisions about your discharge from hospital?’
There were no questions where the Trust score was ‘worse than average’. The Trust score was ‘about the same’ as other Trusts for 62 questions.
A more detailed overview of the results by Picker, who oversee the survey and compare the Trust with 77 other hospitals, showed the RUH scored better than average in five areas, including patients and family feeling involved in decisions about discharge from hospital; very good or good for hospital food and team working.
Improvements from 2017 included patients being aware which nurse was in charge of their care, and knowing who to contact if they had any worries or concerns.
Bernie Marden, Medical Director, said: “Patient feedback is one of the many ways that we listen and learn about how we can meet our aim of being an organisation that provides the highest quality care.
“Patient surveys like this are important in giving us with a picture of what we are doing well. We are always looking at where we can further improve the services we provide, and we have already taken action in a number of areas.
“Patient care and patients’ experience in hospital is our priority and we will study this survey information closely to see what lessons can be learned.”