A new survey shows that overall patients rate Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone hospitals ‘highly’ when it comes to staff and care.
A record number of men and women (709) shared their views about the care they received from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. It was part of a national survey and they were all discharged from hospital in July 2015, a year that saw demand for care reach ‘unprecedented’ levels.
Despite the pressures faced by the NHS, the trust received an overall good response from patients who were asked by the Care Quality Commission to rate over 70 areas of their care, covering eight key standards.
Overall patients rated their care, and staff, highly and found the local hospitals to be clean and safe. The majority of patients said they felt well looked after while in hospital, and had trust and confidence in the doctors and nurses, who treated them with respect and dignity.
Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse, said: “Our patients have indicated to us once again that our staff are caring and attentive to their needs and treat them with respect and dignity.
“We are also delighted to see improvements in areas such as hospital food – something we have been focussing on in response to patient feedback.
“We are grateful for their comments and we will continue to focus on improving the experience our patients have with us.”
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells was rated among the better trusts nationally for ensuring patients are not bothered by noise at night from hospital staff.
However, it was in the bottom 20 per cent for explaining to patients how they could expect to feel after having an operation or procedure.
The trust said it has already made a number of improvements since the survey that are ‘helping to enhance overall patient experience’.
This year it has opened a new urgent medical unit and a dedicated children’s A&E department at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
PATIENT FEEDBACK…
The trust was given marks out of 10 for the following sectors – the 2014 ratings are in brackets.
Hospital and ward 8.4 (8.2)
Doctors 8.7 (8.4)
Nurses 8.6 (8.5)
Care and treatment 8 (7.7) Operations/procedures 8.2 (8.2) Leaving hospital 7.3 (7.3)
Overall care/service 5.6 (5.6)
Overall experience 8.2 (8.1)
