University Hospital Galway and Portiuncula University Hospital are 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 across 40 hospitals eligible to participate, approximately 2,500 of these in the Galway 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 both University Hospital Galway and Portiuncula University Hospital this week encourages all eligible patients in Galway 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, Chris Kane, General Manager at Galway University Hospital, says: “This survey will provide us with very valuable feedback on our services. The experience of patients in our hospitals is vital to improving our health service.”
James Keane, General Manager at Portiuncula University Hospital, adds, “The information we will gain from our patients in this survey will have an important role to play in the development of our services over the coming years. It is in listening to the feedback and experiences of patients that we can not only enhance the quality and care we provide to patients in Portiuncula University Hospital, but across the wider health service too.”
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 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 either University Hospital Galway or Portiuncula University 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.
Find out more about the National Patient Experience Survey at www.patientexperience.ie, on Twitter @NPESurvey or on Facebook /NPESurvey.
