Positive patient experience at Nenagh hospital

Ninety percent of patients at Nenagh hospital described their overall experience as good or very good, according to the recently published results of a survey by the HSE.

The survey asked every patient who had spent at least one night in an acute hospital during May 2018 for their feedback through over 50 detailed questions. The response rate at Nenagh hospital was 50%.
Responses to the questionnaire at Nenagh hospital included:

Did you have confidence in the hospital staff treating you? 84% always; 16% sometimes; 0% no.
Overall, did you feel you were treated with respect and dignity while you were in the hospital? 91% always; 9% sometimes; 0% no.
Were you given enough privacy when you were on the ward? Always 76%; sometimes 22%; No 2%.
In your opinion, how clean was the hospital room or ward that you were on? Very clean, 84%; fairly clean 16%; not very or not at all clean, 0%
How clean were the toilets and bathrooms that you used in hospital? Very clean 77%, fairly clean 23%, Not very or not at all clean 0%.
Do you think the hospital staff did everything they could to help control your pain? 73% Yes definitely; 7% Yes to some extent; 20% N/A.

The proportion of patients who answered they definitely or to some extent had someone in the hospital with whom they could discuss worries or fears rose from 58% in 2017 to 68% this year. And while it remains to be seen if this trend is sustained, this improvement does follow the introduction to Nenagh hospital of a volunteer patient befriender.

Shortcomings identified by patients are being addressed through quality improvement plans that have been drawn up for each site.
Commenting on the results, Cathrina Ryan, Operational Director of Nursing, Nenagh Hospital, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Again this year privacy, being treated with respect and dignity and food choice scored very high.

“The results showed opportunities for improvement around communicating with patients and families in particular around medication management and discharge planning. Nenagh hospital is committed to continuing with work already commenced in these areas to improve and enhance our service user experience.”