Warrington Hospital scores high in patient experience survey

This was despite the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recently published survey.

The 2020 Urgent and Emergency Care Survey received feedback from 41,000 patients across England who attended A&E in September last year.

The 230 patients surveyed at Warrington Hospital gave the facility an average overall experience score of 8.2 out of 10.

This was an improvement on the grade of 7.7 it received when the survey was last conducted in 2018.

A third of patients nationally gave their overall experience a perfect score – up from 27 per cent in 2016 and 29 per cent in 2018.

Warrington Hospital proud of staff as patients score their experience highly in survey

Across England, 81 per cent of respondents said they were treated with respect and dignity in A&E all of the time – up from 79 per cent in 2018.

Warrington Hospital received an average score of 9.1 out of 10 on this matter – up from 8.6 two years previously.

And patients gave it a mark of 8.9 for its cleanliness, which was similar to the national average of 9.

On the feedback, Kimberley Salmon-Jamieson, chief nurse and deputy chief executive of Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, praised staff for their efforts.

She said: “I am very proud of our hard-working teams across our emergency and urgent care departments for the continued care and dedication that they provide to our patients.

“In 2020, our emergency department attendances were reduced due to Covid-19 restrictions, which saw patient experience improve as staff had the space to see, assess, treat and discharge or admit patients quickly.

Warrington Hospital proud of staff as patients score their experience highly in survey

“However, in the last 12 months they have seen a sharp increase in patient attendances, and demand has significantly outgrown the capacity of the emergency department estate, which is a key element of our bids for a new hospital for our local communities.

“There are also always useful lessons to learn from patient feedback, and we are committed to improving and continuing to take the steps needed to make things better.”

Nationally, NHS Providers said that given the ‘extreme and unprecedented pressures’ staff faced, the survey results are positive.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, added: “This is testament to the dedication and professionalism of frontline staff, who strive to deliver care in the most challenging of circumstances.

“We are also pleased to hear that the biggest positive change in this year's survey findings was in people's perceptions of cleanliness within A&E departments.”