A national survey of patients using Emergency Departments has found that the James Paget is performing better than expected when compared with other Trusts across the country – for the second year in succession.
The Urgent and Emergency Care Survey is part of a national programme overseen by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
It invites patients who have used Emergency Departments to give their feedback through a series of questions covering key topics including care and treatment, interaction with doctors and nurses, respect and dignity and environment and facilities.
Based on their responses, each NHS trust is given a score out of 10 for each question as well as a rating of ‘much better’, ‘better’, ‘somewhat better’, ‘about the same’, ‘somewhat worse’, ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ when compared with other trusts.
The results of the latest survey were released this week and showed:
• the James Paget was rated ‘much better’ than most trusts in the category of ‘waiting’; and ‘better’ than most trusts in six categories - arrival; interaction with doctors and nurses; your care and treatment; communication about tests; respect and dignity; and overall experience.
• we received a ‘somewhat better’ rating for the hospital’s environment and facilities and support and care after leaving the Emergency Department.
• for the categories of privacy and information to support recovery at home, our rating was ‘about the same’ in comparison to other trusts.
As a result, the CQC survey has found that the James Paget is performing ‘better than expected’ for its urgent and emergency care services because the proportion of respondents who answered positively to questions about their care, across the entire survey, was significantly above the trust average.
Chief Executive Jo Segasby said:“This is an excellent set of results in an important survey that gives us a detailed insight into patients’ experiences when visiting our Emergency Department.
“I am particularly pleased that our patients have rated our service so highly for the second year in a row, demonstrating how our ED team are consistently dedicated to patient care.
“It is important to note that this survey looked at period in February last year – right in middle of winter when NHS services are typically most stretched.
“This speaks volumes for the quality of our staff in providing a brilliant all-round service, despite facing periods of sustained high demand – and their excellence in supporting and reassuring patients who are often extremely poorly and anxious about their health.
“As with any survey, we will look at the results in detail and identify areas where we can improve further for the benefit of our patients and staff.”
The survey used responses from nearly 36,000 people who used urgent and emergency care services at 120 NHS trusts in February this year, representing a response rate of 29%. Our response rate was above the national average at 30.6%.
The results come as we head into winter, when it is anticipated that the NHS will be very busy. Our Emergency Department will be open 24/7 for people in need of urgent care - but if it is not a genuine emergency, people are asked to contact NHS 111, visit their GP or call in at their local pharmacy.
People attending our Emergency Department should be aware that, during times of peak demand, they may have to wait to be seen. Our team sees people based on the urgency of their needs; if you have to wait, it means that others have more urgent conditions that need to be prioritised, so please be patient. Our staff work tirelessly to support people needing care – so please show them the respect they deserve.
The full survey results for our Trust can be read here: http://www.cqc.org.uk/uecsurvey