By Vivienne Russell | 8 April 2014
A Care Quality Commission survey of more that 62,000 hospital inpatients has found the number of people who said they had a positive experience has increased in the last year
More than two-thirds (71%) of respondents to the CQC poll said they rated their experience at 8 or above, while more than a quarter (27%) gave it a mark of 10 out of 10. This is up from 69% and 25% last year.
Around 81% of people said they were always treated with dignity and respect, up from 80% in last year’s survey.
However, almost half (46%) of respondents did not agree that they were involved in decisions about their discharge from hospital and almost two-fifths (39%) felt they were not given enough information about the side effects of their medication.
Other areas of variation highlighted by the survey included the provision of information on how to make a complaint and copies of letters between hospital doctors and GPs.
Areas that showed the least variation and where NHS trusts scored well were whether patients felts threatened by other patients or visitors, whether they had enough privacy when they were being examined or treated, and whether hand wash gels were available.
Commenting on the findings, chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards 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.’
Meanwhile, Monitor has launched an investigation into the way Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust is run. The trust provides mental health services to communities across London and Milton Keynes on 150 sites.
The action is being taken after the CQC issued warning notices last month relating to care of mental health patients at some of the trust’s centres. Monitor’s investigation will look into whether the concerns raised by CQC point to wider management problems.
Victoria Woodhatch, senior regional manager at Monitor, said: ‘We have decided to open an investigation at the trust to identify if there are any problems with the way the trust is run that would prevent it providing high quality care for patients.
‘Our investigation will take a very close look at the issues highlighted by the CQC, and we will take regulatory action if required.’
