Scottish Inpatient Patient Experience Survey 2011 Volume 1: National Results
Scottish Inpatient Patient Experience Survey 2011 Volume 1: National Results
10 Results - Other comparisons
Patient Characteristics
10.1 A more sophisticated analysis has been undertaken using the 2010 survey data to take into account all patient characteristics that influence the likelihood of a patient reporting a positive experience. The topic report was published on the same day as this publication [13].
Hospital Type
10.2 Last year's report found that there were differences in the experiences of patients in different types of hospital. This year a similar pattern was found. Patients in teaching and large general hospitals are less likely to report a positive experience compared to patients in general and community hospitals.
Comparisons with English Inpatient Survey
10.3 A number of the questions in the 2011 Scottish inpatient survey are broadly comparable to those in the 2010 English inpatient survey [14], a survey of inpatients in NHS hospitals in England. This section of the report compares the findings from both surveys where relevant. The wording of questions and response options are different and this has been discussed when reporting differences.
10.4 It is important to note that there are differences in the way that the English and Scottish results have been calculated. The English results are the unweighted mean result of all NHS Trusts. However the Scottish results have been calculated by weighting the results by the total number of eligible inpatients attending a particular hospital over the year to provide results more representative of the population. Giving NHS Boards equal weighting as was done for NHS Trusts in England would provide misleading results because it would give Greater Glasgow and Clyde's results (where there are over 80,000 inpatients annually) the same contribution to the national results as NHS Orkney' results (where there are less than 1,000 inpatients annually). The effect of this type of weighting for the Scottish results would be to inflate the national results because the smaller boards generally achieve higher positive scores. It is not clear what effect this weighting methodology has on the English results.
10.5 Other international comparisons with patient experience surveys proved more problematic for inclusion due to a mix of the level of comparability between the wording of questions posed and also the time period they related to. For example, the Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy survey in 2005 has ten broadly comparable questions; whereas the 2010 version of this survey did not have any questions that were similar to any of those asked in the Scottish inpatient survey.
10.6 Looking at comparisons between Scotland and England some questions have been compared in terms of the percentage of patients answering negatively. This has been done where the negative responses for the two surveys are more comparable than the positive responses.
Admission to hospital
10.7 Table 9 shows results from the English and Scottish inpatient surveys about patients' experience of admission to hospital.
Table 9 Comparative results for admission to hospital
English 2010 Inpatient Survey question | English 2010 Inpatient Survey question results | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey question | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Was your most recent hospital stay planned in advance or an emergency? | Waiting list or planned in advance | 41% | Was your most recent hospital stay planned in advance or an emergency? | Waiting list or planned in advance | 41% |
Emergency or urgent: | 57% | Emergency or urgent | 59% | ||
Something else | 3% | ||||
When you arrived at the hospital did you go to the A&E Department? | Yes | 87% | When you arrived at the hospital did you go to the A&E Department? | Yes | 72% |
From the time you arrived at the hospital, did you feel that you had to wait a long time to get on to a bed on a ward? | Yes, definitely | 13% | From the time you arrived at hospital, how did you feel about the time you had to wait to get to a bed on the ward | It was too long | 13% |
The hospital and ward
10.8 Table 10 shows results from the two surveys about patients' views and experiences of the hospital and ward.
10.9 A similar percentage of patients in Scotland and England disagreed that their hospital room or ward, and toilets and bathrooms were clean.
10.10 Scottish patients were less likely to have shared a room or bay with members of the opposite sex. The results are not directly comparable because the English survey only asked about when patients were first admitted. However the effect of this, if any, would be to reduce the English result so it is reasonable to conclude that there is a difference.
Table 10 Comparative results for the hospital and ward
English 2010 Inpatient Survey question | English 2010 Inpatient Survey question results | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey question | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
In your opinion how clean was the hospital room or ward that you were in? | Not very clean/ not at all clean | 4% |
The main ward or room I stayed in was clean | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 3% |
How clean were the toilets and bathrooms you used in hospital? | Not very clean/ not at all clean | 6% |
The bathrooms and toilets were clean | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 7% |
When you were first admitted to a bed on a ward, did you share a sleeping area with patients of the opposite sex? | Yes |
14 % |
During your most recent stay in hospital did you share a room or bay with members of the opposite sex? | Yes |
10% |
Care and treatment
10.11 Table 11 shows results from the two surveys about patients' views and experiences of care and treatment they received as an inpatient.
10.12 The results for care and treatment were similar for the English and Scottish surveys. The only major difference was for being involved as much as you wanted to be in decisions about your care and treatment, with 11 per cent of English patients answering that they were not involved enough compared to 15 per cent of Scottish patients.
Table 11 Comparative results for care and treatment
English 2010 Inpatient Survey question | English 2010 Inpatient Survey question results | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey question | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Do you think the hospital staff did everything they could to help control your pain? | No | 6% | I was able to get adequate pain relief when I needed it. | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 5% |
Were you given enough privacy when being examined or treated? | No | 2% | I had privacy when being examined or treated | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 3% |
Were you given enough privacy when discussing your condition or treatment? | No | 8% | I had privacy when my condition and treatment was discussed | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 8% |
Were you involved as much as you wanted to be in decisions about your care and treatment? | No | 11% | How did you feel about being involved in decisions about your care and treatment? | I was not involved enough | 15% |
Staff
10.13 Table 12 shows results from the two surveys about patients' views of the staff they encountered during their most recent hospital stay.
10.14 Slightly more patients in England (7%) disagreed that doctors washed their hands than in Scotland (4%).
Table 12 Comparative results for staff
English 2010 Inpatient Survey question | English 2010 Inpatient Survey question results | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey question | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
As far as you know, did doctors wash their hands between touching patients? | No | 7% | As far as I was aware doctors washed/ cleaned their hands at appropriate times | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 4% |
As far as you know, did nurses wash their hands between touching patients? | No | 4% | As far as I was aware nurses washed/ cleaned their hands at appropriate times | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 3% |
Leaving hospital
10.15 Table 13 shows results from the two surveys about patients' views and experiences of leaving hospital.
10.16 There was a large difference in the percentage of patients that were not told of danger signals to watch for when they left hospital between Scotland (18%) and England (38%). Some of this difference is probably caused by Scottish patients not feeling that they required to be told about danger signals and answering "neither agree nor disagree". However only 11 per cent of patients in Scotland answered "neither agree nor disagree" so there still appears to be a large difference.
Table 13 Comparative results for leaving hospital
English 2010 Inpatient Survey question | English 2010 Inpatient Survey question results | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey question | Scottish 2011 Inpatient Survey results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Did a member of staff tell you about any danger signals you should watch for after you went home? | No | 38% | I was told about any danger signals to watch for when I got home | Strongly disagree/ disagree | 18% |
Summary
10.17 Overall, the experiences of Scottish and English inpatients appear to be very similar.
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