Roscommon 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 Roscommon University Hospital to describe their experiences in hospital.

Welcoming the findings, Ursula Morgan, Director of Nursing 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 Roscommon University Hospital reported positive experiences in hospital. 91% of participants said they had a ‘very good’ overall experience.

“There were three areas related to patients’ overall experience where the hospital scored significantly above the national average; 93% said they had the opportunity to talk to a nurse if they needed to do so; 92% said they were happy with pain management while in the hospital; and 93% said the hospital room or ward was very clean.  Patients rated the ‘care on the ward’ at 8.7 out of 10 which is above the national average of 8.0.

“The hospital’s lowest-scoring questions related to food rating, clear explanations about the purpose and side-effects of medicines, and being told about danger signals to watch out for after leaving hospital.

“We are using the results of this survey to help us prioritise quality improvements for the coming year. As part of our improvement plan, the hospital's catering services will be expanding the variety of replacement meals provided until 6pm and have re-introduced the ward trolley at night to include additional snack choices.

“All pharmacy information will be reviewed; high risk medications and Parkinson’s medications will be highlighted on communication boards on each medical ward; a medication checklist upon discharge will be displayed on ward boards; medicine checklists will be available on patient information booklets; and the ‘My Medicine’ lists are available to all patients in 52 languages.

“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 Roscommon University Hospital, one patient commented, “The nursing and HCA care was exceptional. Nurses’ knowledge and experience was professional and in-depth. medical staff were approachable and sensitive.”

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.”