Roscommon County Hospital is one of 40 hospitals participating in the National Patient Experience Survey, a new nationwide survey asking patients for their views on hospital care.
With an estimated 27,000 patients eligible to participate, approximately 100 of these in the Roscommon area, this will be the largest single survey of the healthcare system to be conducted in Ireland. All adult patients who spend at least 24 hours in a public hospital and who are discharged during the month of May will be asked to complete the survey.
The National Patient Experience Survey covers all aspects of a patients’ stay in hospital, including admission and discharge, the ward environment, interaction with staff, and care and treatment. The survey contains 58 tick-box questions and three open-ended questions, where participants have the opportunity to comment on what they found good about the care they received in hospital, and also provide suggestions for improvement.
HIQA’s Tracy O’Carroll, visiting Roscommon County Hospital on Wednesday, encouraged all eligible patients in Roscommon to participate in the survey: “This is a great opportunity for patients to tell us about their hospital experience. By taking part in the National Patient Experience Survey patients can help us to identify areas for improvement, and also tell us the positive work that is carried out every day in Irish hospitals”.
Welcoming the launch of the survey, Marie Doorly, Interim General Manager at Roscommon County Hospital, said: “Knowing what our patients experience during their hospital stay is a key element in ensuring the delivery of high-quality care. Measuring the patient’s experience is an important part of improving patient-centred care. The results of this survey will give us the opportunity to see what is important to our patients and identify areas for improvement.”
It is accepted internationally that the key to creating a better healthcare service is to focus on the patient and to learn from their experiences. With this in mind, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has joined forces with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health to carry out the first ever National Patient Experience Survey.
The results of the survey will be used to improve the standard of hospital care for all patients, not just in Roscommon County Hospital, but across the country. The responses will help to set priorities for the delivery of better patient-centred care in all Irish hospitals, with the aim of creating more effective and efficient healthcare organisations, both nationally, and in Roscommon.
The National Patient Experience Survey will allow for comparisons of patient experiences at a hospital-group and national level, but also, for the first time in Ireland, facilitate a comparison with international best practice. Patient experience surveys are regularly conducted in other countries, including Scotland, England, Denmark and New Zealand.
Patients eligible to participate in the National Patient Experience Survey will receive a survey pack in the post approximately two weeks after their discharge from Roscommon County Hospital. This pack contains the survey, an information leaflet and a Freepost envelope in which to return the completed survey. The survey can also be completed online up until 26 July 2017.
