CQC publish findings from the Adult Inpatient Survey 2024
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses surveys to find out what people think about the NHS services they use. One of these in the Adult Inpatient Survey - which looks at the experiences of people who stayed at least one night in hospital as an inpatient.
Results from the 2024 survey have now been published. Nationally, the results show some areas of improvement when compared to those from 2023. Of the 36 questions that were also asked in 2023, 17 show statistically significant improvement, 17 remain about the same, and 2 show statistically significant decline.
Find the national results here
Across the country, positive themes included:
- Interactions with hospital staff
- Staff availability
- Overall experience of care
Key areas for improvement included:
- Waiting times
- Care after leaving hospital
Although results are still poor for many of areas of care – and continue to be worse than those reported in 2020 – this year’s survey indicates early signs of improvement in how people experience acute adult inpatient services.
How do experiences differ for different groups?
Respondents with a disability or those living with frailty reported poorer experiences of inpatient care for all the questions analysed in the survey.
Similarly, respondents with dementia, Alzheimer’s, a mental health condition, a neurological condition, or a condition which affects their physical mobility reported poorer experiences in most areas.
People who had an emergency admission to hospital also had poorer experiences than those with planned admissions.
How does Sheffield compare to the national picture?
The CQC also shares survey feedback for individual hospital trusts. 466 people shared their experiences of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Overall, our local hospitals fared 'about the same' as other Trusts nationally.
Sheffield patients' experiences were 'somewhat better than expected' - when compared to other hospitals - in three areas:
- Waiting to be admitted
- Information while waiting to be admitted
- Privacy for examinations
Their experiences were 'somewhat worse than expected' in one area:
- Not being prevented from sleeping
Each Trust has been provided with a breakdown of their own data, which means they can learn from the findings and put plans in place to improve experiences for patients.
The CQC will also use this survey data to build a wider understanding of services, and to inform targeted assessments .
Want to share your own experiences of hospital care?
You can get in touch with us at any time to share your story - sharing your experiences can help to improve care.
