NHS Western Isles achieves top marks in patient experience survey

On top of the local improvements demonstrated, the survey, conducted nationally, also showed that NHS Western Isles has achieved higher levels of patient satisfaction than the Scottish average in 96 per cent of questions – in some areas, significantly higher.

Survey questionnaires were sent out in January 2016 to 384 people who had stayed overnight in an NHS Western Isles hospital, between April 1 and September 30 2015.

The survey asked questions about the people’s experiences of admission, the hospital ward and environment, care and treatment, operations and procedures, staff, leaving hospital, care after leaving hospital and medicines. There was a 42 per cent response rate in the Western Isles.

Western Isles nurses were rated extremely positively overall, with almost all patients (97 per cent) responding that they had confidence and trust in the nurses looking after them (six per cent higher than the national average).

NHS Western Isles Emergency Departments demonstrated both the most positive local responses, and significantly higher satisfaction rates than the Scottish average. One hundred per cent of patients who responded were satisfied with the waiting time to be seen by a nurse or doctor in the Emergency Department.

All respondents also said they had enough privacy in the Emergency Department when being examined or treated, and all patients also said they felt safe in the Emergency Department.

In the Emergency Department, 84 per cent of patients said they were kept informed about what was happening after seeing a doctor or nurse (23 per cent higher than the Scottish average), and in the same department, 75 per cent of patients were told how long they would have to wait to see a doctor or nurse (31 per cent higher than the national average).

Eighty-six per cent of patients who attended the Emergency Department were satisfied that their condition was explained to them in a way they could understand (18 per cent higher than the national average).

In terms of admission to hospital, every patient who responded to the survey was satisfied about the time they waited to be admitted to hospital after they were referred, and almost all respondents (96 per cent) rated the hospital admission process positively (14 per cent higher than the national average).

Hand hygiene was given a glowing report, with almost all respondents (99 per cent) reporting that nurses washed/cleaned their hands at appropriate times, and 96 per cent of patients said that doctors washed/cleaned their hands at appropriate times (five per cent higher than the national average – ongoing improvements have also been reported in this area in every survey since 2010).

Ninety-five per cent of patients received assistance within a reasonable time when they called (eight per cent higher than the national average), and the same percentage of people said that nurses discussed their condition and treatment with them in a way they could understand (11 per cent above the Scottish average).

There was also a high satisfaction rate in terms of food, with 91 per cent of patients happy with the food/meals they received (23 per cent higher than the national average).

The most improved areas for NHS Western Isles since the last survey in 2014 related to:

· ensuring that the people that mattered to patients were involved in decisions about their care and treatment (80 per cent positive, 15 per cent higher than 2014 result);

· nurses did not talk in front of patients as if they were not there (94 per cent, eight per cent higher than 2014);

· patients knew which nurse was in charge of their care (73 per cent, 12 per cent higher than 2014 result); and

· satisfaction with the length of time in hospital (96 per cent, five per cent higher than 2014).

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive Gordon Jamieson said: “I would firstly like to thank the patients who took the time to complete the Inpatient Survey – your views about the care, treatment, and service you receive really matter to us and our staff, and we sincerely appreciate and value your feedback.

“The results in the latest survey are nothing short of excellent, and are testament to the hard work of our staff, who genuinely care about continually improving care and providing a first-class health service to the local population. Well done to our staff for achieving such a positive and healthy report from the patients you care for. There really is no better praise for a healthcare professional than positive feedback from patients.

“We are delighted that NHS Western Isles has achieved such a positive report, in national terms, but even more satisfied with the increased levels of patient satisfaction that we have managed to achieve in a number of areas since the last survey.

“This not only demonstrates improvements in the service we provide to patients, but also highlights that we really do listen carefully to your feedback and put in place measures, where possible, to improve things for patients when issues are brought to our attention. We will be carrying out detailed analysis of the results to establish key areas to focus on for further improvement.”

The full survey results are available at: http://www.careexperience.scot.nhs.uk/Results2016.html