Adult inpatients of hospitals run by University Hospitals
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust are overwhelmingly satisfied with
their care, a survey reveals.
The findings are published by the Healthcare Commission, which
asked patients to provide their views on issues including care and
information given by staff, mixed sex facilities, assistance with
food and general cleanliness.
Chief Nurse Lindsey Scott said: We are delighted that 94 per
cent rated of our patients rated their overall care as excellent,
very good or good.
That 40 per cent rated their care as excellent, 40 per cent
rated their care as very good, and 14 per cent as good reflects the
high standard provided by the Trust.
The Healthcare Commission surveyed 76,000 patients at 165 acute
and specialist trusts across the country in autumn last
year. Four hundred and seventy eight patients of
UHBristol, whose hospitals include the Bristol Royal Infirmary,
Bristol Haematology & Oncology Centre, Bristol General Hospital
and St Michaels Hospital, gave their views on a range of issues
about their care and treatment.
Satisfaction with staff was high for both nurses and doctors.
For example, 94 per cent of patients gave a rating of excellent (36
per cent), very good (41 per cent) or good (17 per cent), for the
way nurses and doctors worked together.
For cleanliness, 89 per cent of patients rated their hospital
room as either very clean (43 per cent) or fairly clean (46 per
cent). Eighty-four per cent of patients rated the toilets and
bathrooms as either very clean (35 per cent) or fairly clean (49
per cent).
Lindsey added: Since this survey was carried out, we have
completed a Trust-wide clean of patient and public areas as part of
a rolling programme of deep cleans and have invested in new
specialist cleaning equipment. However, we accept that some areas
of our older buildings are in need of modernisation and we are
planning an upgrade of toilets and bathrooms.
The Trusts inpatient hospitals also scored either excellent,
good or acceptable for standards of cleanliness in the latest
Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections.
In the current Healthcare Commission survey, privacy and dignity
scored highly: 81 per cent said they were always treated with
respect and dignity whilst a patient, while we were placed among
the top 20 per cent of trusts for privacy when being examined or
treated.
Seventy-six per cent of patients said they had always had a
choice of food and 78 per cent rated the food as either excellent,
good or fair.
An area in which the Trust performed less well was that of
admission dates. Only 22 per cent of patients said they had been
given a choice.
Lindsey said: The survey will help us understand the views of
our patients and we are responding to the findings to further
improve standards of care.
We are concerned that some patients do not consider that they
have a choice of admission date. It is Trust policy to offer a
choice but the survey shows that in some cases we are not
communicating this clearly. We are training staff to ensure that
all patients are aware that they have a choice.
For further information, please contact the United Bristol
Healthcare Press Office on 0117 342 3751/3629
