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Adult inpatient survey: what adults say about their time in our hospitals

12/09/2023
Patients continue to rate their experience of care at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) following the publication of the Adult Inpatient Survey 2022.

A total of 547 adults who were inpatients across our four hospitals in November 2022 completed the questionnaire about their experiences at the Trust.

The survey covered a wide range of topics, such as waiting times, privacy and dignity, cleanliness, the standard of care received, food and drink, staffing levels, and patient discharges. Responses were then converted into scores out of 10 for each question, and compared against those from other trusts.

There were no questions for which OUH rated as worse than other Trusts, but it did score better than most in seven questions relating to:

Food provided when in hospital, including in relation to dietary requirements and supply of food outside of usual mealtimes
The number of nurses on duty
Information provided about patients’ conditions
Involving families and carers in patients’ discharge from hospital
Information provided on what to do, and not do, when leaving hospital
The provision of information about who to contact if patients were worried about their condition after leaving hospital.

One of the highest rated questions scored 9.4 out of 10, relating to whether patients had faith in the doctors treated them.

A large proportion of the free text comments positively reflected staff, care, and treatment.

For example, one comment said: "Cannot speak highly enough concerning treatment and respect from everyone I came into contact with from cleaners, nurses and doctors."

Another read: "ALL staff were amazing. Even my surgeon came to check on me a few times in the ward after my operation. Best experience in a hospital I’ve ever had in the aftermath of a scary operation."

The report also highlighted some areas of improvement for the Trust to make based on areas where scores declined compared to last year's results. These include noise levels on the wards, and the amount of time taken to be allocated a bed on a ward after arriving at hospital.

The OUH Patient Experience team will work closely with Divisional teams to analyse the results by Division, directorate and ward, with the aim of developing action plans to be monitored by the Trust Board.

Anny Sykes, Interim Chief Medical Officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are committed to providing the best possible care to all of our patients, so feedback provided via the Adult Inpatient Survey - both positive and negative - will help us learn and enhance patient experience.

"It is pleasing to see that many of the positive scores relate to our patients being treated with care and compassion by our staff, as well as details such as the provision of food and involving carers and family members in discharge plans when the time comes for patients to go home from hospital.

"Thank you to the hundreds of people who took the time to get involved and have their say, helping us to shape our services for future patients."

The survey results can be read on the CQC website:

CQC Inpatient Survey 2022