Patients satisfied with care at Nenagh Hospital
More than three out of every four patients who completed the fifth annual National Inpatient Experience Survey have described their overall experience at UL Hospitals Group as good or very good.
Over 920 patients have provided their feedback on University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. Survey results are already being used to drive improvements in quality across the five hospitals.
Admitted patients who had spent at least 24 hours in a public hospital were invited to complete the survey, which is led by HIQA in partnership with the HSE and the Department of Health. The survey included over 60 detailed questions, with UL Hospitals Group achieving a response rate of 40%.
Within UL Hospitals Group as a whole, 77% of surveyed patients rated their overall experience as good or very good in May 2022, compared to a national average of 82%. In University Hospital Limerick 71% of patients described their overall experience as good or very good, as did 87% of patients in Ennis Hospital; 88% in both Nenagh and St John’s hospitals and 91% in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital.
Patients are asked for their feedback and observations on each stage of their journey through hospital and the survey is broken down into sections on Admissions, Care on the Ward; Examination, Diagnosis and Treatment; and Discharge/Transfer. Additional questions have been added to the survey to reflect the care patients received during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Across the five hospitals, 79% of patients said they always had trust and confidence in the staff treating them.
Nenagh Hospital
Cathrina Ryan, Director of Nursing, Nenagh Hospital, said: “We pride ourselves in providing patient-centred care at Nenagh Hospital. This survey is a great opportunity to listen to our patients and come up with improvements based on their feedback. We are very pleased to again see high levels of trust and confidence in the staff at Nenagh Hospital. And we hope that the positive results for Nenagh around patient privacy and staff properly introducing themselves also reflects this patient-centred approach.
“We have developed a quality improvement plan to address areas where patients had identified opportunities to enhance their experience. This includes efforts to improve communication between clinical staff and our patients on the wards, in our MAU and Injury Unit. Nenagh is one of a number of hospitals within the group that has participated in medication safety initiatives for staff. The Nenagh Patient Experience Committee is also promoting the ‘Know, Check, Ask’ campaign to raise awareness among patients and staff of the importance of having an up-to-date list of medications,” Ms Ryan said.
SURVEY 2022
Paula Cussen Murphy, Director of Quality and Patient Safety, UL Hospitals Group, added: “Participation in the annual National Inpatient Experience Survey is one of the most important means we have of listening to the voice of our patients. I want to thank each and every one of the more than 920 patients who completed the survey this year and shared their insights with us.
“Patients in the main are reporting high levels of satisfaction with the care they receive in our hospitals. Staff will be greatly encouraged by reading the feedback from patients in their own words describing high levels of professionalism and kindness from our medical, nursing, allied health and support staff.
“It is important that we respond in particular to those areas where patients are less satisfied and even dissatisfied with our services. Quality improvement plans developed in response to the survey results will focus on admissions in UHL and on discharge planning, improved communications and on medication safety across all sites,” said Ms Cussen Murphy.