Patients to rate East lancashire's hospitals

5:00pm Saturday 6th October 2012 in News

BOSSES running East Lancashire hospitals have welcomed Government moves to bring in a customer service-style review of their services.

From next April, all NHS hospitals will have to ask all inpatients and those using Accident and Emergency about their experience using a standard question that will allow patients to compare different facilities.

Scores will be published for each hospital, even at ward level, with ministers hoping that patients, doctors and managers will use the information to push for improvements.

Ian Brandwood,director of human resources at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said a similar review already takes place in East Lancashire.

He said: “As part of our on-going commitment to improving patient care, we already ask a similar question of patients whilst in hospital.

“The question is part of both our paper and web based questionnaires on patient experience.

“The information is totally anonymous and once collated, is reviewed by individual wards for learning, training and improvement purposes.”

Patients leaving hospital will be asked: “How likely are you to recommend our ward/A&E departments to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?”

They will be asked to respond by using a six-point scale ranging from ‘extremely likely’ to ‘extremely unlikely’.

Because of fears that asking the questions face to face wmight influence the results, hospitals will ask patients via text messages, a weblink, freephone numbers, or by installing voting booths on wards. The results will be published monthly.

Sally Brearley, chairman of the forum that decided on bringing the survey in, said: “The friends and family test is a useful way for staff to look at their place of work, and for patients to look at the quality of care they receive, and for them to judge whether they would be content for a loved one to use that service, should they need treatment.”

Comments (9)

5:44pm Sat 6 Oct 12

mavrick says...

I hope Management don't abuse this system to get rid of staff. We all know how understaffed the RBH is. I am sure many other hospitals are in the same boat. I think it is high time there was a national campaign to get the proper funding the NHS needs.
I hope Management don't abuse this system to get rid of staff. We all know how understaffed the RBH is. I am sure many other hospitals are in the same boat. I think it is high time there was a national campaign to get the proper funding the NHS needs. mavrick

8:02pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Faithless says...

The NHS has proper funding already. Unfortunately the funding is skimmed off by unscrupulous individuals who fill their own pockets with public money. The authorities and the PCT's don't act and let people get away with fraud thus propagating and promoting a culture of theft.

(Imagine if authorities had acted on child groomers when the problem first came to light, the problem wouldn't be so endemic today.)

In 20-30 years when these people in the PCT's need treatment and the NHS can't afford it due to fraud becoming endemic due to their inaction, I won't have sympathy. Unfortunately most of them on their high salaries will have private healthcare and it'll b us, the public that will suffer.
The NHS has proper funding already. Unfortunately the funding is skimmed off by unscrupulous individuals who fill their own pockets with public money. The authorities and the PCT's don't act and let people get away with fraud thus propagating and promoting a culture of theft. (Imagine if authorities had acted on child groomers when the problem first came to light, the problem wouldn't be so endemic today.) In 20-30 years when these people in the PCT's need treatment and the NHS can't afford it due to fraud becoming endemic due to their inaction, I won't have sympathy. Unfortunately most of them on their high salaries will have private healthcare and it'll b us, the public that will suffer. Faithless

8:44pm Sat 6 Oct 12

mavrick says...

Faithless wrote:
The NHS has proper funding already. Unfortunately the funding is skimmed off by unscrupulous individuals who fill their own pockets with public money. The authorities and the PCT's don't act and let people get away with fraud thus propagating and promoting a culture of theft.

(Imagine if authorities had acted on child groomers when the problem first came to light, the problem wouldn't be so endemic today.)

In 20-30 years when these people in the PCT's need treatment and the NHS can't afford it due to fraud becoming endemic due to their inaction, I won't have sympathy. Unfortunately most of them on their high salaries will have private healthcare and it'll b us, the public that will suffer.
Who are these individuals? I agree the procurement needs to do a more critical analysis of it's purchase's as I believe they pay well over the odds for some supplies and services. I don't quite get the analogy of the child groomers in this context. They should pursue those who are health tourist like the criminals they are.
[quote][p][bold]Faithless[/bold] wrote: The NHS has proper funding already. Unfortunately the funding is skimmed off by unscrupulous individuals who fill their own pockets with public money. The authorities and the PCT's don't act and let people get away with fraud thus propagating and promoting a culture of theft. (Imagine if authorities had acted on child groomers when the problem first came to light, the problem wouldn't be so endemic today.) In 20-30 years when these people in the PCT's need treatment and the NHS can't afford it due to fraud becoming endemic due to their inaction, I won't have sympathy. Unfortunately most of them on their high salaries will have private healthcare and it'll b us, the public that will suffer.[/p][/quote]Who are these individuals? I agree the procurement needs to do a more critical analysis of it's purchase's as I believe they pay well over the odds for some supplies and services. I don't quite get the analogy of the child groomers in this context. They should pursue those who are health tourist like the criminals they are. mavrick

10:51pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Pendlesider says...

EVERYONE has different perceptions of quality of patient care. some patients are content to recieve treatment, get fed, and then be discharged with a care-plan. THis, after all, is the NHS, and not some 5-star private hospital.
.
this sort of 'survey' is one typical of a privately run hospital, which is worrying considering the PCTs and SHA's are being scrapped in April 2013. *to be replaced with GP led 'clinical commissioning groups.
.
Obviously the private model is based on a typical business model but as we've seen of late with 'payment by results' and Private finance initiatives (PFI) creeping into the NHS model - we can all perhaps see where our NHS is heading?
.
it's important to remember here that when we 'rate' a service we are often making a 'comparison' with either a similar service or similar experience.
.
overall, the transfer of burnley hospitals A&E department to Blackburn resulted in huge overcrowding at the Royal Blackburn Hospital (RBH) site with resulting poor quality patient care. and the only major general hospital (MGH) in east lancashire at Blackburn is still reeling from that poor transfer decision.
.
THE proof is in the pudding, and only last year PATIENT care at the Royal Blackburn Hospital was branded as'disgraceful' after a catalogue of major problems were revealed in a staff survey (tinyurl.com/9mc7gjg
).
.
to be fair, the RBH has come a long way regarding patient care and outcomes, but this is due largely to the £millions spent at the RBH site on the med assess unit and other areas NEEDED to compensate for the increase in patient uptake since the closure of Burnley's A&E and acute inpatient services.
.
As ever, Nursing staff at Blackburn deserve much praise for working under such duress in times of great changes to our NHS. They should take solace that any critique by patients is not an undermining of their determination and excellent care but is more likely due to poor management of a hospital that now has to do the task of two General Hospitals (Burnley and Blackburn hospitals).
EVERYONE has different perceptions of quality of patient care. some patients are content to recieve treatment, get fed, and then be discharged with a care-plan. THis, after all, is the NHS, and not some 5-star private hospital. . this sort of 'survey' is one typical of a privately run hospital, which is worrying considering the PCTs and SHA's are being scrapped in April 2013. *to be replaced with GP led 'clinical commissioning groups. . Obviously the private model is based on a typical business model but as we've seen of late with 'payment by results' and Private finance initiatives (PFI) creeping into the NHS model - we can all perhaps see where our NHS is heading? . it's important to remember here that when we 'rate' a service we are often making a 'comparison' with either a similar service or similar experience. . overall, the transfer of burnley hospitals A&E department to Blackburn resulted in huge overcrowding at the Royal Blackburn Hospital (RBH) site with resulting poor quality patient care. and the only major general hospital (MGH) in east lancashire at Blackburn is still reeling from that poor transfer decision. . THE proof is in the pudding, and only last year PATIENT care at the Royal Blackburn Hospital was branded as'disgraceful' after a catalogue of major problems were revealed in a staff survey (tinyurl.com/9mc7gjg ). . to be fair, the RBH has come a long way regarding patient care and outcomes, but this is due largely to the £millions spent at the RBH site on the med assess unit and other areas NEEDED to compensate for the increase in patient uptake since the closure of Burnley's A&E and acute inpatient services. . As ever, Nursing staff at Blackburn deserve much praise for working under such duress in times of great changes to our NHS. They should take solace that any critique by patients is not an undermining of their determination and excellent care but is more likely due to poor management of a hospital that now has to do the task of two General Hospitals (Burnley and Blackburn hospitals). Pendlesider

10:52pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Faithless says...

The analogy of the child groomers is that they could've been stopped if authorities took action when the problem was discovered years ago, before it got to the stage it is at. Fraud in the NHS needs to be stopped by cracking down before it gets out of hand.

I agree about health tourists but we need to get tough on the people within thehthe health system who allow the tourists to exploit it.

I don't know if I can name the individuals concerned as it is something the authorities are aware of and are supposedly investigating. However I've been informed that the authorities don't want to take action because a GP and a pharmacist are involved and it'd make the professions look bad. Who cares about hundreds of thousands pounds worth of fraud when the image is protected?
The analogy of the child groomers is that they could've been stopped if authorities took action when the problem was discovered years ago, before it got to the stage it is at. Fraud in the NHS needs to be stopped by cracking down before it gets out of hand. I agree about health tourists but we need to get tough on the people within thehthe health system who allow the tourists to exploit it. I don't know if I can name the individuals concerned as it is something the authorities are aware of and are supposedly investigating. However I've been informed that the authorities don't want to take action because a GP and a pharmacist are involved and it'd make the professions look bad. Who cares about hundreds of thousands pounds worth of fraud when the image is protected? Faithless

10:52pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Faithless says...

The analogy of the child groomers is that they could've been stopped if authorities took action when the problem was discovered years ago, before it got to the stage it is at. Fraud in the NHS needs to be stopped by cracking down before it gets out of hand.

I agree about health tourists but we need to get tough on the people within thehthe health system who allow the tourists to exploit it.

I don't know if I can name the individuals concerned as it is something the authorities are aware of and are supposedly investigating. However I've been informed that the authorities don't want to take action because a GP and a pharmacist are involved and it'd make the professions look bad. Who cares about hundreds of thousands pounds worth of fraud when the image is protected?
The analogy of the child groomers is that they could've been stopped if authorities took action when the problem was discovered years ago, before it got to the stage it is at. Fraud in the NHS needs to be stopped by cracking down before it gets out of hand. I agree about health tourists but we need to get tough on the people within thehthe health system who allow the tourists to exploit it. I don't know if I can name the individuals concerned as it is something the authorities are aware of and are supposedly investigating. However I've been informed that the authorities don't want to take action because a GP and a pharmacist are involved and it'd make the professions look bad. Who cares about hundreds of thousands pounds worth of fraud when the image is protected? Faithless

2:36am Sun 7 Oct 12

peely says...

I think they should start a system where Hospital staff can rate patients ! It might bring home some real truths .
I think they should start a system where Hospital staff can rate patients ! It might bring home some real truths . peely

8:39am Sun 7 Oct 12

isitrightthat says...

What will happen here is that the already understaffed wards will get poor results and the already overworked nurses will get it in the neck by senior management who introduce something more for them to do almost every other week.
This is usually something connected with computers and audits . This then keeps the nurses away from the patients so care is not as good as it should be . This is also happening in mental health .
Management do not care as it is all about money to them and not about patients any more .
Ask any nurse their true feelings on this and this is what you will be told.
What will happen here is that the already understaffed wards will get poor results and the already overworked nurses will get it in the neck by senior management who introduce something more for them to do almost every other week. This is usually something connected with computers and audits . This then keeps the nurses away from the patients so care is not as good as it should be . This is also happening in mental health . Management do not care as it is all about money to them and not about patients any more . Ask any nurse their true feelings on this and this is what you will be told. isitrightthat

8:48pm Sun 7 Oct 12

VicLou says...

peely wrote:
I think they should start a system where Hospital staff can rate patients ! It might bring home some real truths .
I quite agree!!!
[quote][p][bold]peely[/bold] wrote: I think they should start a system where Hospital staff can rate patients ! It might bring home some real truths .[/p][/quote]I quite agree!!! VicLou

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