Today (26th August) the results of the National Inpatient Survey 2025 were published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Adults who were inpatients at one of North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust’s (NCIC) two acute hospitals (The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven), and were discharged in November 2025, were surveyed about their experiences. 518 people completed the survey, a response rate of 44%.

The Trust’s results were in line with trusts across the country, with no areas below average. In addition, NCIC scored ‘better than expected’ compared to other trusts in two areas:

  • Cultural needs – hospital staff took into account their individual cultural needs (94%)
  • Religious needs – hospital staff took into account their individual religious needs (93%)

Other areas we are pleased to note are:

  • 9 out of 10 patients (91.9%) said they had confidence in the Trust and the nurses treating them, an increase on last year
  • Almost 9 out of 10 patients (89.3%) said they had confidence in the Trust and the doctors treating them, an increase on last year
  • 9 out 10 patients (91.5%) said they were treated with kindness and compassion and 91.7% said they were treated with dignity and respect.

Dr Gill Findley.jpgDr Gill Findley, Chief Nurse at NCIC, said:

"It is extremely encouraging to see that the majority of our patients have confidence in our health professionals, and were treated with kindness, dignity, respect, and compassion as we would expect. I am also pleased that we scored highly around respecting people’s cultural and religious needs as it is so important to treat all patients as individuals and take note of the what matters most to them while they are in hospital.  

"The key areas we need to make improvements is around information provided to patients and their family/carers about when they will be discharged from hospital, medications to be taken home and what happens next when they return home. We currently have a focused piece of work ongoing around improving our patient flow and discharges. We know that patients recover better after a period of illness in the place they call home so we need to make sure that patients are discharged at the right time and are equipped with the information and aftercare in the community they need. In turn, this means patients who need urgent care and treatment can be admitted faster.

“National survey results are a helpful for us to understand our patient's experiences, and identify where we are doing well, and where we need to make improvements. We will examine these results in detail alongside our other methods of collecting patient feedback so we can continue to make changes to meet our patients' needs.

“We know that these results perhaps don’t reflect everyone’s experiences in our care and if anyone has concerns I encourage them to contact us via our Patient Advice & Liaison service.”