Patients give hospital experience thumbs up (From York Press)

Patients give hospital experience thumbs up

1:15pm Wednesday 14th May 2008 in

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PATIENTS have given York Hospital a healthy glow in an NHS watchdog's annual survey.

Almost 500 people who were treated at the Wigginton Road site last year were quizzed by the Healthcare Commission about their experiences and the standard of care they received.

And they gave the hospital above-average scores in most of the areas covered, ranging from the confidence patients had in staff to the length of time they had to wait for a bed and what they thought of the food served up.

Crucially, 81 per cent of those surveyed during 2007 said they had always been treated with respect and dignity during their time in hospital - higher than the national average of 77 per cent for "medium acute" hospitals like York.

But health bosses have said they are not taking the findings for granted and are already drawing up plans to improve their operation in certain areas, including making it easier for patients to provide feedback on their treatment.

They have looked at how this is done after 93 per cent said they were never asked for their views on the quality of care they were given during their time in hospital.

Meanwhile, only 55 per cent thought there were always enough nurses on duty to care for them, although this was still slightly above the national average, while just six per cent wanted to complain about the care they received.

And patients gave the hospital high scores for privacy during examinations and treatment, safety, cleanliness of toilets and bathrooms and ensuring they were not kept on waiting lists longer than necessary.

"It's a very good and positive story for York, but the issue for us is that we would never want to rest on our laurels," said the hospital's director of nursing, Libby McManus.

"Being better than average in many areas is great, but to be ranked among the best would be even better. We want to keep improving and striving to reach that level because we have a good reputation to uphold.

"We will look at the detail from this survey and discuss what our priorities should be. One key area we have picked up on is that many patients didn't feel they are asked about the quality of care they feel they have received, so we have already reviewed how we do this to make it more user-friendly - that feedback is very important to us.

"However, this survey has certainly given us confidence that we are doing things well and heading in the right direction."

Survey findings

OF THOSE surveyed, 44 per cent rated their care as excellent and 35 per cent said it was very good, with only two per cent branding it poor.

* 15 per cent said they had waited more than four hours for a bed, with 28 per cent accommodated in under an hour and 11 per cent not waiting at all.

* 61 per cent ranked hospital food as good or very good, with ten per cent saying it was poor.

* 86 per cent said they had confidence and trust in the doctors, but four per cent said they often talked in as if they weren't there.

* 17 per cent said they had to share bathroom or shower facilities with the opposite sex.

* 34 per cent said night-time noise from other patients had bothered them, while 17 per cent said staff had been too loud during the night.

* 71 per cent said doctors always gave them answers they could understand to important questions, with 70 per cent saying the same for nurses.

* 12 per cent said they waited more than five minutes for a response after pressing the call button, with 56 per cent waiting less than two minutes.