Listening to what you want

Short waiting times, quality care and high standards of cleanliness are just some of the reasons why patients have placed Sheffield Teaching Hospitals in the top 10% of the UK’s best performing hospitals according to the latest Annual NHS patient survey.

The survey, coordinated for health watchdog the Care Quality Commission by the Picker Institute, considered responses from over 72,000 adult inpatients at 165 hospital trusts. 449 patients completed questionnaires after their treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. The response rate was 54%, which is the same as the national average.

We were rated above average for overall experience and nursing care as well as featuring in the top 20% of hospitals in more than half of the categories including:

  • The quality of care provided for patients
  • Treating patients with respect and dignity
  • Confidence in the doctors and nurses
  • Doctors and nurses working well together
  • Short waiting times to be admitted to hospital
  • Doctors and nurses washing their hands regularly
  • Having enough nurses on duty
  • Being given information and having the opportunity to talk to doctors/nurses
  • Pain relief
  • Answering bedside call buttons
  • Giving information about medication
  • However patients also wanted to see further improvements in two particular areas:

Reducing delays to a patients discharge for example because medication to take home was slow to arrive or the patient was waiting to be moved to a nursing home or to have home care to be provided.

Eliminating the last small number of wards where men and women are cared for in the same area, albeit separated and screened off from each other. The issue of bathrooms for men and women being in the same area is also something the Trust is currently addressing.

Hilary Scholefield, Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are pleased with the results which clearly reflect the efforts and excellence of our dedicated staff. Most of our patients gave the care they received the highest possible rating placing us in the top 10% of NHS hospital trusts for overall performance across a wide range of issues including quality of care, short waiting times, treating patients with dignity and high standards of cleanliness and infection control. We are however also looking at the areas where patients feel we can further improve so that our results are even better next year."

 

 
 

Additional Information

Emergency care is excellent say patients

Patients rate highly the care they receive in the A&E department at the Northern General Hospital, with 86% rating it as “excellent”, “very good” or “good”, according to a national survey published today (Wednesday 14 January 2009) by the Healthcare Commission. 

Hospital patients in Sheffield also say they are waiting less time for emergency treatment with less than 2% of patients reporting that they waited more than four hours to be examined by a doctor. 94% of patients said they waited less than four hours or were seen immediately.

 

 
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