Portiuncula University Hospital welcomes the publication of the National Inpatient Experience Survey 2024

The results of the National Inpatient Experience Survey, carried out in all public hospitals in Ireland in May have been published. This is the sixth year that the survey has been carried out and was an opportunity for patients of Portiuncula University Hospital to describe their experiences in hospital.

Welcoming the findings, James Keane, Hospital Manager said, “The findings of the survey provide us with important insights into patients’ perspectives of how they experienced treatment in our hospital and what improvements are needed to our services. It also helps us see how the patient voice has helped us change and improve hospital care since 2017 when the first survey was carried out.

“We are very pleased that the majority of participants from Portiuncula University Hospital reported positive experiences in hospital. 83% of participants said they had a ‘good’ to ‘very good’ overall experience.

“Areas where patients identified good experiences included patients stating; that the hospital was very clean; they always felt treated with respect and dignity in hospital; and that they definitely felt confident in the safety of their treatment and care.

“Some of the areas where patients identified as needing improvement included; patients who wanted to give feedback or make a complaint, did not know how or where to do so; unable to get hospital food outside of set mealtimes; and patients were not told about any danger signals to watch out for after they went home.

“We are using the results of this survey to help us prioritise quality improvements for the coming year. And as part of our improvement plan in the areas needing improvement outlined, we will improve patient information on how or where to give feedback or make a complaint and ensure patients have education packs containing ‘Your Service Your Say’ comment card and ‘Patient Advice and Liaison Service’ (PALS) leaflet. We will also ensure staff are educating patients on the information provided in the education packs and that all wards will have the necessary resources available to them to provide this information to all patients.

“We will highlight with staff the importance of patient centred-care, quality patient education and the importance of effective communication between patients and staff, especially for patients with Mental Health, Psychological or emotional conditions.

“Patients will be provided with individualised education packs to include information about their specific educational needs and condition, danger signs, maintaining their condition after discharge, and medication education.

“The hospital’s catering team will be providing food to patients outside of set meal times and more fruit will be available on the wards.  There will be further education for catering staff on different dietary needs/ requirements of patients and for a trial period on St Frances ward, we will be asking patients what they want for each meal.

New snack menus/picture menus which will be reader/dementia friendly will be available in multiple languages to all patients. We will also be ensuring that staff have the knowledge to communicate effectively to patients regarding their dietary needs or requirements.

“I would like to thank all the patients who took part in the survey and the staff who encouraged and facilitated it.”

As stated in the survey results for Portiuncla University Hospital, one patient commented, “The carers were amazing at their job, so helpful and tried their best to do what they could to make patients’ lives better. The catering staff were also so helpful and got my food when I was admitted to the ward after the usual meal times.”

Tony Canavan, Regional Executive Officer HSE West and North West said, “Through this survey our patients have provided us with really valuable feedback on their experience of care in our hospitals. I want to thank them for taking the time to do so. It is their engagement that allows us to further strengthen and improve our services. I would also like to thank our staff who support and encourage our patients to participate in this survey and for their commitment to providing good quality, patient-centered care. They are committed to making improvements for our patients.

“This survey allows us to engage with our patients and learn from and embed areas we are doing well in and also highlight areas we could do better in. The 2024 results showed that 84% of patients across our hospitals had a positive experience of care and this is something we are very proud of. We will continue to develop and introduce initiatives in response to areas where our patient’s feedback has not been satisfactory.”