Today (9th September) the results of the National Inpatient Survey 2024 were published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Adults who were inpatients at one of NCIC's acute hospitals, and were discharged in November 2024, were surveyed about their experiences. 539 people completed the survey, a response rate of 45%. Out of those who completed the survey, 80% were urgent/emergency admissions and 20% were planned admissions.

We are pleased to see that we are have performed "much better than expected" compared nationally to other NHS trusts in the area of "virtual wards", and we were the top scoring trust in the region in this section.

Patients were particularly positive about:

  • Being given enough information on the risks and benefits of being on a virtual ward (83%, or 8.3/10 people)
  • Being given enough information on the care and treatment they would receive on a virtual ward (86%, or 8.6/10 people)

NCIC scored "about the same" as other NHS trusts for all other questions. However, we were the second highest rated trust in the region for "basic needs", and third highest trust in the region for "nurses" and "kindness and compassion".

Ife Akinyemi, Deputy Chief Nurse, said:

"We welcome these national survey results for our inpatients. We are dedicated to listening to our patient's experiences and feedback, so that we can better understand their needs and make meaningful improvements.

"It's great to see that patients responded positively around virtual wards. These are a safe and effective alternative to hospital level care for some patients, where they can receive care in the comfort of their own homes. I am also pleased to see that 92% of patients responded that they were treated with kindness and compassion, as well as respect and dignity.

"The key area we need to improve is around information provided to patients, and their family/carer, when leaving hospital. We will use the results from this survey to help inform how we can improve this for our patients."