The results of the first ever National Patient Experience Survey have been launched today by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD and Minister for Health Simon Harris TD in Dublin.

Welcoming the survey, the Taoiseach said: “We are constantly striving to improve our health service, so it is important that we have an accurate picture of the average patient's experience. This survey, the first of its kind here, provides us with very useful information on what works well within our health service, and what needs to be improved. I am glad to see that there is such a high level of trust in our doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff, and that most people who enter the health service have a good experience. The survey also underlines the fact that access remains the biggest challenge facing our health service. In 2018, with the largest ever budget for our health service, we will be introducing a range of measures to make it easier to access our health service at the times in your life when you need it."

The survey, a partnership between HIQA, the HSE and the Department of Health, took place during the month of May, and gave almost 27,000 patients discharged from a public acute hospital throughout Ireland an opportunity to describe their experiences in order to improve our health service. It is the largest single survey of the healthcare system in Ireland and received an exceptional 51% response rate. This is the first time the survey has been conducted and this information will be used as a baseline in order to track progress on patients experience over the next number of years.

Some 84% of the patients who completed the survey indicated that their overall experience of acute healthcare was either “good” or “very good”. However, one of the main objectives of the survey was to listen to the patient voice and understand how their experience of services could be improved. It is now important that these experiences are listened to and understood in order to make improvements to the quality and safety of Irish healthcare.

Key areas identified for improvement are:

1. Waiting times in the emergency department — 79% of people surveyed described the admission to hospital phase as good or very good. Only 30% of people said that they were admitted to a ward within the target waiting time of six hours. Long waiting times have been linked with negative health outcomes and as a result pose a threat to patient safety.
2. Communication on the ward — 49% of patients said that they could not always find a member of staff to talk to about their worries or fears. Patients needed doctors to have more time to discuss their care and treatment.
3. Involving patients in decisions about their care — 36% of patients said that they were not involved as much as they would have liked to be in the decisions about their care.
4. Discharge or transfer showed the greatest need for improvement — better communication with patients in relation to the side effects of medication, the danger signals to watch out for after discharge or how patients should care for themselves at home were identified.

Key areas identified as areas of good experience include:

1. Clear answers from doctors and nurses – 97% of people said that nurses and 94% of people said that doctors always or sometimes answered questions in a manner that they could understand.
2. Respect and dignity - 82% of people said they were always treated with respect and dignity throughout their hospital stay.
3. Confidence and trust in the hospital staff - 83% of people who answered this question said that they always had confidence and trust in the hospital staff that treated them.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Health Simon Harris TD said: “The findings of the National Patient Experience Survey are very encouraging in a number of respects. The fact that so many of our patients indicated that they were treated with respect and dignity is testament to the commitment and hard work of our staff. I think this shows that the efforts which have been made in recent years to put the patient at the heart of the health service, and to transform the culture in our hospitals, are bearing fruit. For those areas where improvement has been identified, I know that the HSE has already moved to develop its response, both at a national and an individual hospital level. I look forward to seeing those plans successfully implemented and reflected in further iterations of this survey”.

Commenting on the launch of this initiative, Sheila O’Connor of Patient Focus, the national patient advocacy organisation, said: “Patient Focus welcomes the results of this first independent National Patient Experience Survey. It is imperative that the voices of the patients, the people who experience our healthcare system at first hand, are heard. Patient Focus is relieved to see that a large number of patients said that they were treated with dignity and respect during their stay in hospital; however, Patient Focus emphasises that this should be a right for all patients.

“Over one third of patients who responded to the survey said they were not involved enough in decisions about their care, and this issue needs to be addressed. We know from research that patients who are engaged in their healthcare decisions have better outcomes. We now have the opportunity to hear what the patient is saying and address these issues so that our health service can be improved for the benefit of all”.

Tony O’Brien, Director General of the HSE said: “The results of the National Patient Experience Survey 2017 provide acute hospital services in Ireland with tangible evidence about what matters to patients about their journey through Irish hospitals and real practical examples of areas for improvement.

“Since August 2017, our acute hospital teams have reviewed the real-time findings of the survey to create quality improvement plans at national and local levels. These plans published today - Listening, Responding and Improving - outline the initiatives and actions that each hospital will undertake to improve patients’ experiences of their services”.

Rachel Flynn, HIQA’s Director of Health Information and Standards and Programme Director for the National Patient Experience Survey, said: “The results of this first patient experience survey show that although many patients experienced good care, there is certainly room for improvement in key areas. While the majority of patients said that doctors and nurses on the ward always answered questions in a manner that they could understand, almost half of the patients said that they could not always find a member of staff to discuss their concerns with and also said that the doctors and nurses did not have enough time to discuss their care and treatment. We must now listen carefully to the voices of patients, the service users, and use these results and those of future annual surveys as the building blocks to drive continuous improvement in Irish healthcare.”

The HSE has established a new governance structure to lead the development of a national plan to improve the quality of care in Irish hospitals. This quality improvement plan will describe the steps the HSE will take to address the issues raised by the people who responded to the survey. Individual quality improvement plans will be published by each hospital and hospital group that took part in the survey. Individual hospital reports are also being published today. Quality improvement initiatives have already started in many hospitals across the country.

Further information about the survey can be found at www.patientexperience.ie.

Ends.

For further information please contact: Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement (01) 8147480 / 086 2447623 mwhelan@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor

• A joint initiative by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health, the National Patient Experience Survey Programme will use data collected from the survey to shape future healthcare policy and improve outcomes for patients. It will be a key building block in the creation of a strong patient safety culture in our health service.
• Adult patients who spent a minimum of 24 hours in a public acute hospital, were discharged in May 2017 and had a postal address in the Republic of Ireland were eligible to participate in the survey.
• Patients received the survey by post a few weeks after discharge, and could complete the form via post or online.
• People who responded to the survey were similar in terms of age, sex and other characteristics to those who did not respond. This implies confidence that the survey results reflect the typical experience of patients in acute healthcare.
• Other services, such as maternity, may be included in future surveys.
• This survey was informed by patient experience surveys conducted in other countries, such as Denmark, England and New Zealand.
• The National Patient Safety Office (NPSO) launched by the Minister for Health in December 2016 is located within the Department of Health. This Office is leading a programme of patient safety legislation (open disclosure, hospital licensing, mandatory reporting of serious events); extending the clinical effectiveness agenda; developing a patient complaints and patient advocacy policy; publishing the National Healthcare Quality Reporting System and developing patient safety policy.