Inpatient Experience Survey 2018: national results

6. Care and Treatment in Hospital

Summary

• Nine out of ten people were positive about their overall care and treatment whilst in hospital. This percentage is similar to results from previous surveys.
• People were least positive about receiving enough help with eating and drinking (78 per cent positive), which is a six percentage point decrease from 2016.
• On the other hand, 95 per cent of people agreed that they had enough privacy when being examined or treated, which is a slight increase on the 2016 survey.

Overall

People were asked to provide an overall rating of the care and treatment that they received. Nine out of ten (90 per cent) of people responded positively, which is similar to the result from the 2016 survey, but a slight improvement on earlier years.

Figure 6.1 : Overall rating of care and treatment in hospital, 2018

Figure 6.2 : Overall positive rating of care and treatment in hospital

NOTE: Data for the 2010 to 2012 surveys have not been weighted to account for non-response and so are not directly comparable to the 2014 to 2018 surveys.

Care and Treatment

When asked about particular aspects of their care and treatment, people were generally positive, although for most questions less so than in the 2014 and 2016 surveys (Figures 6.3 and 6.4).

Figure 6.3 : Summary of responses to care and treatment in hospital, 2018

Figure 6.4 : Care and treatment in hospital – percent positive trends over time

People were most positive about having enough privacy when being examined or treated; 95 per cent said that they did, which is a slight improvement on the 2016 result.

On the other hand, 78 per cent of people agreed that they got enough help with eating and drinking, which is a 6 percentage point decrease from 2016.

Involvement with Care and Treatment

When asked about involvement in decisions about care and treatment, 65 per cent of people said that they were definitely involved as much as they wanted to be. This is an increase of 3 percentage points from 2016 and 5 per cent from 2014.

A similar percentage (64 per cent) said that people who mattered to them were definitely involved in decisions as much as the respondent wanted them to be. This is an increase of 7 percentage points from the equivalent figure in 2016.