16 June 2008
HCA has recently conducted a patient satisfaction survey to assess the care provided in its six London hospitals. More than 10,000 patients across the entire network of HCA hospitals in the Capital responded to the 68 question survey, which was designed to take the network’s temperature on a number of key issues that are important to patients.
The patient survey comes on the heels of HCA’s recent quality report which demonstrated the hospital group’s excellent patient outcomes and showed the hospital to have amongst the lowest rates of MRSA and C.Difficile in the UK. Patient satisfaction is a top priority at HCA International hospitals.
HCA is London’s largest provider of private healthcare with hospitals and clinics throughout the Capital. All HCA hospitals were included in the survey in which patients were asked a wide range of questions about the care and service they received while at an HCA facility.
Patients were asked to give their impression of hospital staff, including doctors and nurses; their room, including the cleanliness and comfort of the room; the management of their pain and many more. Satisfaction was high, with 91.2% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the “overall quality of care” they received at HCA.
Doctor and patient communication is an important aspect of care. At HCA more than three quarters of patients felt their family had the opportunity to ask their doctor questions and 9 out of 10 patients at HCA hospitals felt that staff did a very good or excellent job of explaining the medicines they were taking home. 95.1% of patients agreed that their consultant answered their treatment questions in a way that was easy for them to understand.
Nursing and consultant care were also rated highly; 8 out of 10 patients were happy with the way their nurses anticipated their needs and 95% of patients received good guidance from the consultant in charge of their care. 86.3% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the control of their pain.
Recently, concerns have been raised about issues of patient’s respect and dignity while in hospital care. According to a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) poll 8 out of 10 nurses said they had left work feeling distressed because they had been unable to treat patients with the dignity they deserve*. The HCA patient satisfaction survey revealed that 95.6% of patients at HCA hospitals said that they were treated with the utmost dignity and respect.
As well as compassionate, personalised care, patients also expect a high standard of accommodation and hotel services. 95.8% of our patients felt the overall presentation of their room was good, very good or excellent. In room entertainment was rated as good, very good or excellent by 84.5% of patients and more than 87% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the cleanliness of their rooms.
However, one of the most ringing endorsements the hospital group received was the huge proportion of patients who said they would recommend HCA to their loved ones; 97.4% said they would recommend the HCA hospital where they received care to their friends and family.
For more information about patient satisfaction at HCA hospitals, please visit [http://www.hcahospitals.co.uk/patient-information-feedback.asp
HCA is London’s largest private healthcare group, with six world-class hospitals and four outpatient facilities throughout London. HCA healthcare facilities have been recognised as Centres of Excellence in a wide variety of specialist areas and are world renowned for compassionate care and medical innovation. With more than 3,000 consultants and the latest diagnostic and treatment technology, HCA is the private hospital group of choice for London and the UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7363525.stm
