National Survey Finds 77% of Patients Satisfied With Care at UL Hospitals Group

• Patients report high levels of trust and confidence in staff across five hospitals
• Smaller hospitals scoring above national average on patient feedback

(LIMERICK 15.12.2022) 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.

University Hospital Limerick

William Shire, Interim Head of Operations, University Hospital Limerick, said: “This national survey is one of a number of means through which we gather patient feedback in order to effect quality improvement. We know that larger hospitals, and hospitals with a higher proportion of patients being admitted through the Emergency Department, are more likely to have lower levels of patient satisfaction. What patients have told us about their experience in this survey, including long waits for admission, corresponds to what we are hearing through our other feedback channels at UHL.

“We need to now show that we are listening to our patients. Our quality improvement plan sets out a number of measures to improve the experience in ED. We have increased the number of staff employed in the Patient Advocacy and Liaison Service and, through our winter plan, we are recruiting more medical and nursing staff to reduce patient experience times,” said Mr Shire.

Niamh Hogan, Patient Advocacy and Liaison Service Manager, UL Hospitals Group, said: “It is encouraging that patients continue to report high levels of satisfaction in relation to their care on the ward once they are admitted. This reflects well on our staff, who are committed to improving the experience of all of our patients. It is also encouraging to see sustained positive feedback on our catering service, which was a focus on previous survey results. Staff are now focused on other areas for improvement identified by our patients, including discharge planning and pain management.”

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.

Ennis Hospital

Joe Cassidy, Director of Nursing, Ennis Hospital, said: “Feedback from our patients is always welcome and we were pleased that the response rate in Ennis was above the national average. There are again some very encouraging results for our patients and for our staff. Patients reported high levels of trust and confidence in our staff and service users overwhelmingly felt they had been treated with dignity and respect at all times. Previous survey results have identified discharge planning as an area for improvement and we are pleased to see above-average high levels of satisfaction this year that patients and families were kept informed on this important stage of the journey.

Our patients have identified a number of further areas for improvement and we welcome this. Our quality improvement plan arising from the survey results will focus on improved communications between patients and staff; on further improving the quality of information around the discharge process and on medication safety initiatives.”

Croom Orthopaedic Hospital

Alan O’Gorman, Director of Nursing, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, said: “The response rate for Croom was considerably above the national average and this provides us with detailed information on where our parents feel we are doing well and where we can improve. Staff can be proud that patients reported in such high numbers that they were always treated with dignity and respect and that they always had an opportunity to talk to a member of the nursing staff when the need arose. For a hospital that looks after a high proportion of older surgical patients, it is encouraging to see such positive results for Croom on pain management and on providing a replacement meal for patients who have gone to theatre. Missed meals was a focus for us from previous results.

Patient feedback has also identified areas where we must continue to improve. This includes better information for patients and families on discharge; improving communication between clinical staff and families and better information on medication side effects. These will be a focus of continued quality improvement projects at Croom,” he added.

St John’s Hospital

Noreen Kennedy, Quality and Patient Safety Manager, St John’s Hospital, said: “The survey results help to provide a clear picture of the quality of services inpatients receive at St John’s Hospital. The findings are again are extremely positive for 2022 and continue to be above the national average. In this survey, 88% of our patients said that they had a very good experience with us in St John’s Hospital, with care of patients on the ward highlighted as the highest rated stage of care. Positive elements included having someone to talk to about worries or fears and time spent explaining care at home. Again, staff have demonstrated that they have continued to treat all inpatients with respect and dignity.

“Quality improvement plans are already in place based on the feedback received. This survey continues to assist us in gaining a better understanding of inpatient experiences in St John’s Hospital and guides us in identifying key areas for improvement. Scoring above the national average has had a very positive impact on all our staff ” Ms Kennedy added.

NIES 2022

Paula Cussen Murphy, Director of Quality and Patient Safety, UL Hospitals Group, said: “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.