Positive experience for patients
Most NHS trusts provide care that patients and services users regard as 'good', and have trust and confidence in the healthcare professionals treating them.
Only a minority of trusts provide an experience we rate as 'below average' or 'poor', and some of these trusts are consistently poor performers.
Priorities for patients and service users
Patients tell us that the following are important:
- Cleanliness
- Timely and fair access
- Good communication and information
- Personalised care
- Dignity and respect
- Our recommendations
Cleanliness
Patients report high levels of cleanliness in hospitals, and more inpatient facilities are receiving scores of ‘excellent' or ‘good'. Around 70% of those surveyed also reported that doctors and nurses always washed or cleaned their hands between touching patients, but there is room for improvement.
Timely and fair access
There have been long-term improvements in waiting times for:
- Diagnostic tests
- Outpatient appointments
- Planned admissions to hospital.
Where patients live or their social status can affect the services available. For example the most deprived areas in England have fewer GPs. People also often experience long waits for services that fall outside of Government targets.
Good communication and information
Overall, patients and service users are positive about the way that clinicians communicate with them. However some surveys have identified concerns about how much information is provided to patients about their condition or treatment (such as medication and side-effects).
Personalised care
We have found that individual, personalised care is not systematic for people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and older people. For example, in a survey only 55% of older people said they were involved in decisions about their care as much as they wanted.
Dignity and respect
In our inpatient survey:
- 78% said they were always treated with dignity and respect while in hospital
- 20% of people who wanted it did not get help with eating
- 70% always had enough privacy when discussing their treatment or condition
In acute trusts, a minority of patients spend time in mixed sex accommodation. In mental health and learning disability wards, we have found more than half of people to be in mixed-sex accommodation. We welcome the Government's announcement of additional investment to resolve this issue.
Our recommendations
Healthcare organisations need to understand the importance of listening to patients, providing them with accessible information, and understanding and addressing their individual needs. People with a particular need for personalised care must be involved in drawing up their care plans and be offered the best possible support to live independently.
Healthcare organisations also need to work to identify where people have difficulty in getting access to services, and to address the issue.
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