WARRINGTON and Halton Teaching Hospitals is continuing to work to improve admission times after being ranked amongst the bottom scores when compared with other hospitals in the latest annual survey of hospital inpatients published this week by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Nationally, the survey reveals that patient satisfaction levels have improved slightly in the past year, with a greater number of respondents rating their overall experience as nine or ten out of ten. However, the results still indicate that many aspects of inpatient care are worse than pre-pandemic and show that waiting times and access to treatment are a continued frustration.
The summary of findings for Warrington & Halton in comparison with other trusts on the number of questions where they performed better, worse or about the same as other trusts was 1 better than expected, 44 about the same and 1 worse than expected.
Comparisons with last year’s results saw 3 significantly better and 35 no different.
In the top five scores compared with the national average, Warrington and Halton ranked 9.2 on religious needs, 9.1 on cultural needs, 9.4 on language needs, 7.5 on the benefits of continuing treatment on a virtual ward and 8.9 on taking into account accessibility needs with mobility and room adaptations.
The bottom five scores related to admission and leaving hospital, ranking 4.3 for time waiting to be admitted to a ward, 6 for length of time on a waiting list, 6.9 forsStaff telling patients who to contact if worried about condition/treatment after leaving hospital, 6 on length time to get a bed after arriving at hospital and 4 on patients being given information about medicines they were to take at home.
The CQC 2024 adult inpatient survey nationally captured the views and experiences of more than 62,000 people who stayed in one of 131 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England for at least one night during November last year. It has been carried out annually since 2002.
The survey asked people to give their opinions on the care they received, including the quality of information and communication with staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the amount of support given to help them eat and drink, and on their discharge arrangements.
The majority of respondents were positive about their interactions with doctors and nurses, as has been the case in previous years. A high proportion of people surveyed (80.1%) said they ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them (80.2% in 2023) and more than four fifths (82%) felt they were ‘always’ treated with dignity and respect (unchanged from 2023).
Most respondents felt that they were able to talk to hospital staff about their worries and fears to some extent (60.4% ‘always’, and 30% ‘sometimes’) and over a third (36.8%) of respondents said that staff involved them ‘a great deal’ in decisions about their care and treatment – up from 34.7% who said this in 2023.
The proportion who felt that there were ‘always’ enough nurses on duty has also increased – from 55.7% in 2023 to 57.9% in 2024. And most people surveyed in 2024 said that they were able to get a member of staff to help them when they needed attention – either ‘always’ (64.5%) or ‘sometimes’ (33.1%). This compares to 63.1% who said they could ‘always’ get help and 34.2% who said they could ‘sometimes’ get help in the 2023 survey.
However, despite indications of improvement since 2023, the 2024 survey results show several areas where people’s inpatient experience fell short of expectations, and the long-term trend reveals that satisfaction levels have fallen over time for many questions where a year-on-year comparison is available.
As well as a report of the national findings, CQC has published the results for each of the 131 individual trusts that took part, and a report identifying those trusts that have scored better or worse across the survey overall, so that people can see how their local services performed.
Dr Toli Onon, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “Despite the pressures facing the NHS, most people surveyed continue to report positively about their interactions with hospital staff. That feedback is a testament to the efforts of frontline healthcare professionals working tirelessly to provide high-quality care to those that need it. Results relating to the availability of staff and people receiving help when they needed it, show encouraging improvements since 2023 and that is great to see.
“However, the lack of progress in areas such as discharge arrangements and in people feeling they received enough information, particularly when leaving hospital – is disappointing. There are also some worrying reports of lengthy waits and the proportion of people whose health deteriorated while waiting for elective care is a real concern. Equally, waits to be transferred to a ward when in hospital is an issue. Patients should receive safe and effective care in an environment that allows for their privacy and dignity to be protected. ‘Corridor care’ must not become normalised; however, these survey results demonstrate that in some cases, the short-term use of temporary escalation spaces to relieve pressure on the ambulance sector is a regrettable reality. Hospitals must have in place the processes and culture to ensure that patients receive the care and attention they need in every environment.
“We know that trusts are working incredibly hard to see people as quickly as possible and to manage the flow of patients from admission through to discharge, in order to maximise capacity for care provision. The latest NHS Performance figures indicate an improvement against the 18-week target – but overall, waiting lists remain stubbornly high. As pressures continue to mount heading into winter, ensuring safety, effectiveness of care and the best possible experience throughout the entirety of the patient journey must be a priority for all parts of the health and care system.”
Ali Kennah, Chief Nurse for Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals, said: “Once again, the kindness and compassion shown by our staff and treating people with respect and dignity shine through in this annual survey and were rated highly by our patients.
“We are also proud that the proactive actions of our staff in responding to the individual communication and accessibility needs of patients are making a difference to their experience of care.
“Whilst our results are largely in step with other hospital trusts, there is more we need to do and we acknowledge some areas of the results reflect the current challenging position within our hospitals. Despite the best efforts of our teams, some patients wait much longer to be admitted to a ward bed than we would like.
“We remain committed to making improvements to our processes where we can and are already working closely with our community partners and the wider health and care system to ensure that patients receive the right care in the right place and are appropriately supported to continue their recovery when they leave hospital.
“We are confident that our plans to join forces as one organisation with Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust will support us in providing better care together.”
Lydia Hughes, CEO of Healthwatch Warrington, the independent health and social care services watchdog, said: “Healthwatch Warrington will continue to work closely with patients for their feedback on services at WHH. We are currently working with the Trust to improve patient experience with vulnerable patients as part of our pilot project ‘About Me Card’, the Trust are extremely proactive in listening to patients and ways to improve their experience.”
Full details of the report on Warrington & Halton can be read by CLICKING HERE
