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Patients rate West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust care highly in national survey
People cared for as inpatients by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) have rated their overall experience as being in the top five of the acute and combined Trusts in England, and among the best in the region.
In the NHS Adult Inpatient Survey for 2023, the Trust was rated at 8.5 out of 10 for overall experience, placing it fifth in England and second in the eastern region. The Trust also scored in the top two or top five in the region on most other criteria including admission and leaving the hospital, the hospital and ward, doctors, nurses, care and treatment, kindness, compassion, respect and dignity.
Among the questions where the Trust scored well included receiving appropriate equipment and means of support when leaving hospital, and the food served. The Trust had also improved its score from the 2022 survey on questions about cleanliness (from 9.0 in 2022 to 9.2 in 2023); and if patients felt there were enough nurses to care for them (from 6.8 to 7.4).
Areas where care could improve included information given to patients about being transferred to a different ward during the night; or being transferred from the hospital to the virtual ward, where digital equipment supports care in the patient’s own home. There was also need for improvement in patients being included in conversations where doctors are discussing their care.
Dr Ewen Cameron, chief executive, said: “Putting our patients first is at the heart of all the care we provide, and it is so heartening to hear that people being looked after on our wards have a positive experience. To achieve consistent placing in the top five of the results for general and combined trusts is a testament to the commitment our staff have to safe, quality, and compassionate care.
“These findings will help us to build on what is working well, as well as improve on the way we share information with our patients.”
The survey, run by the Care Quality Commission, looks at the experiences of people who stayed at least one night in hospital as an inpatient. People were eligible to take part in the survey if they stayed in hospital for at least one night during November 2023 and were aged 16 years or over at the time of their stay.
There was a 49% response rate for WSFT, compared with a national response rate of 41.7%, with 559 of the 1250 people invited to take part responding.
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