Inpatient Experience Survey 2018: national results

8. Operations and Procedures

Summary

• Fifty-nine per cent or people said that they had an operation or procedure during their hospital stay.
• In general, people were very positive about the way that staff communicated with them before and after the operation or procedure. People were most positive about the explanations they received beforehand relating to the risks and benefits; 86 per cent agreed that they were given an explanation they understood, which is four percentage points more than in 2014.
• People were less positive that they had been told how they would feel after the operation or procedure, with 66 per cent agreeing completely that they had. However, the percentage of positive responses to this question has increased five percentage points since the 2014 survey.

Explanations and asking questions

Good communication before and after surgery is essential. It assists patients in understanding the risks, benefits and possible outcomes of surgery and helps them to make informed decisions about their own care and treatment.

Fifty-nine per cent of people told us that they had an operation or procedure during their most recent stay in hospital. They were asked about the way that staff communicated with them before and after surgery. Their responses are shown in Figure 8.1 and 8.2.

Figure 8.1: Summary of responses to communication prior to and after operations and procedures, 2018

People were most positive about the explanations they received beforehand relating to the risks and benefits, and also what would be done. Eighty-six per cent of people agreed that they were given an explanation they understood about the risks and benefits of the operation or procedure, which is two percentage points more than in 2016, and four percentage points more than in 2014.

Figure 8.2 : Communication prior to and after operations and procedures, percent positive trends over time

One area where people were less positive was around explanations about how they would feel after the operation or procedure. Sixty-six percent of people responded "yes, completely" to this question in 2018 and a further 24 per cent said "yes, to some extent". However, the percentage of positive responses to this question has increased in both the 2016 and 2018 surveys.