Patients give West Suffolk Hospital the thumbs up

1 July, 2002

The vast majority of patients using the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds would recommend it to their nearest and dearest. That’s the findings of a recent survey.

The survey, which was part of the Department of Health’s National Patient Survey, asked 924 discharged patients for their opinions on a wide range of subjects from how they rated the care they received to whether the wards were noisy at night. 597 people responded.

When asked ‘Would you recommend this hospital to your family and friends? 93% said they would.

“This shows that patients are very satisfied with standards of care within the trust overall,” said Nichole Day, director of nursing. “We are, of course, concerned that not everyone felt this way and we will be using their comments as we continue to improve our services.”

Of those who replied to the survey, which was carried out in earlier this year, 91% said that the care they received was good, with only 3% describing it as poor.

96% said they were treated with dignity, 91% felt they had had enough privacy whilst being examined but the figure dipped to 84% when it came to how they felt about having enough privacy whilst discussing their conditions or treatment.

The survey has thrown up some areas of concern which the trust is now committed to resolving. These include noise on the wards at night, delays in patient admissions and discharges, information relating to medication, being involved in decisions and whether patients felt doctors and nurses talked in front of them as if they were not there.

“The survey has thrown up some very interesting and useful information. It has given us an insight into how patients view our services and how we behave towards them. Armed with this we can learn and change things for the better,” said Nichole Day.

The survey’s findings will go to the trust’s Patients & Clinical Partnership Group, comprising both patients and staff. This group, on behalf of the trust, will be responsible for ensuring an action plan is developed and the progress of its implementation is monitored.