Scottish Inpatient Patient Experience Survey 2011 Volume 1: National Results

7 Results - leaving hospital

Preparations and advice when leaving hospital

7.1 Patients were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with the following eight statements about what happened when they left hospital:

• My family or home situation was taken into account when planning for me leaving hospital;
• I was happy with how long I had to wait around when I was told I could go home;
• Any medicines I needed before I could go home were given to me in reasonable time;
• I was given help with arranging transport;
• I understood who to contact if I had any questions after leaving hospital;
• I was told about any danger signals to watch for when I got home;
• I was given advice on how to look after myself;
• I was confident that any help I needed had been arranged for when I got home.

7.2 Patients were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with the following three statements about any medicine they were given:

• I understood what my medicines were for;
• I understood how and when to take my medicines;
• I understood the possible side effects and what to do if I had any concerns.

7.3 Patients were also asked how they rated the overall arrangements made for them leaving hospital.

Views on the overall arrangements for leaving hospital

7.4 At a national level 75 per cent of patients reported their overall experience of leaving hospital as either excellent or good, a small improvement compared to 73 per cent last year. Eight per cent reported it as poor or very poor. Chart 5 shows how patients answered the question.

Chart 5 Overall, how would you rate the arrangements made for you leaving hospital?

7.5 Table 6 shows how much patients agreed with the eight statements about leaving hospital. The results range from 62 per cent of patients who agreed that they were given help with arranging transport to 83 per cent of patients who indicated that their family or home situation was taken into account when planning for them leaving hospital. The low result for patients getting help with arranging transport may be partly due to the fact that some patients do not feel that they require help and answer "neither agree nor disagree" instead of "not relevant".

Table 6 Summary results of questions asked about the arrangements for leaving hospital

* Not all rows add to 100% due to rounding, statistically significant differences are in bold

Medication

7.6 Table 7 shows how much patients agreed with the three statements about medication.

7.7 It is important that patients understand what their medicines are for, how and when to take them, and to understand the possible side effects and know what to do if they have any concerns to reduce adverse events. The Scottish Patient Safety Programme ^[12] aims to provide safe and effective medicines management.

7.8 The results range from 80 per cent of patients agreeing that they understood the possible side effects of medicines and what to do if they had any concerns, to 96 per cent stating that they understood how and when to take their medicines. There was no change in the results compared to last year.

Table 7 Summary of the results of questions asked about medication

* Not all rows add to 100% due to rounding, statistically significant differences are in bold