News

A national survey of hospital inpatients carried out in 2017 by the Care Quality Commission has found that patients at Sheffield’s hospitals are pleased with the care they receive and in many areas the care was rated as ‘better than the national average’.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which covers the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Northern General Hospital and Weston Park Hospital scored well in areas of care spanning across the whole inpatient journey. Indeed the Trust scored better when compared with other Trusts in the following areas:

• The amount of information about a patient’s condition or treatment that was given
•  Receiving answers that were easy to understand when asking questions
• Staff discussing whether patients may need any further health or social care services after leaving hospital (e.g. services from a GP, physiotherapist or community nurse, or assistance from social services)
•  Having enough support put in place after leaving hospital from health and social care professionals to help the patient recover and manage their condition
• Other highlights included 96% of patients stating that they had been given enough privacy when being examined or treated and 97% saying they were kept well hydrated, having had enough to drink whilst in hospital.

Tim Buxton, aged 60, is currently an inpatient on ward Firth 9 at the Northern General Hospital after he was referred for specialist treatment for pancreatic problems. He said: “I totally agree with the feedback from the survey. I have actually stayed as an inpatient eight times following various procedures including emergency life-saving surgery and every stay has been excellent. The staff are really caring and efficient. I have been kept really well informed. I ask a lot of questions and the doctors and nurses always explain things to me in a way I understand. I also appreciate that I see the same consultant four times a week, the consistency is really good. I can’t thank them all enough.”

The Trust now plans to use the feedback to help the hospitals highlight areas where they perform well and to identify the areas where there is room for improvement such as ‘asking for patients views and providing information about how to complain’ which received lower scores in this survey.

Hilary Chapman, Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are really pleased with the results of our most recent inpatient survey which showed ‘better than average’ scores in a number of areas of patient care. Since the last survey in 2016 we have continued to make further improvements in areas that patients tell us matter to them most, such as discharging patients from hospital in a timely manner. We will use the feedback from this survey to make even more improvements for our patients over the coming year.”