The CQC has published the results of its annual adult inpatient survey. Patients were surveyed after staying overnight in our hospitals in November 2023.

You can find our report on the CQC website.

Our Chief Nurse Kathryn Halford said:

We are disappointed our results do not show the continued improvement we hoped for following last year’s survey, and apologise to patients whose experience with us was not as it should have been.

We are listening to feedback and since this survey took place, have taken steps to provide more support for patients when they are discharged. This includes sending wellbeing texts to ensure they have everything they need, and providing contact details for our Patients Advice and Liaison service should they have any concerns. We are also checking patients have received and understand all the information shared with them when being sent home.

We understand patients can be frustrated when faced with long waits for beds, as their survey responses indicated, and have been working hard to reduce time spent in our A&Es, which saw our emergency care performance the most improved in England by the end of 2023. However, our focus remains on the many who are still waiting too long to be moved from our A&E onto a ward.

Of those surveyed, a small number of our overall inpatient numbers, 75 per cent had a positive experience.

In the 2022 survey, concerns were raised around noise at night, preventing patients from getting a restful night’s sleep. We introduced a Noise at Night scheme, working with ward staff to raise awareness of noise levels and reducing them, such as preparing medication elsewhere. This led to improved responses in this survey.