Scottish Inpatient Patient Experience Survey 2011 Volume 1: National Results
Scottish Inpatient Patient Experience Survey 2011 Volume 1: National Results
6 Results - Staff
6.1 Patients were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with a range of statements about the doctors and nurses they came into contact with. They were also asked how much they agreed or disagreed that staff worked well together in organising their care, and overall, how they would rate the staff that they came into contact with.
Views on staff overall
6.2 At a national level, the majority of patients were positive in their overall rating of the staff that they came into contact with. There was no change from last year with 87 per cent rating the staff they came into contact with as either excellent or good and only 3 per cent rating them as poor or very poor. Chart 4 shows how patients answered the question.
Chart 4 Overall, how would you rate all the staff who you came into contact with?
Doctors
6.3 Patients were asked how much they agreed with ten statements about their experiences of the doctors they had come into contact with during their most recent hospital stay. These results are shown in Table 4.
6.4 The results ranged from 79 per cent who agreed doctors did not talk in front of them as if they was not there, to 96 per cent who agreed that doctors had introduced themselves to them. Compared to last year there were small increases in the results of all questions, with the exception of patients being told how their operation or procedure had gone in a way they could understand, which remained the same.
Table 4 Summary of the results of questions asked about doctors encountered
| Statement or question | 2011 | Change from 2010 In Positive % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total base (unweighted) | Negative % |
Neither positive nor negative % |
Positive % |
||
| Doctors introduced themselves to me. | 29,615 | 2 | 2 | 96 | N/A |
| There was enough time to talk to the doctors. | 29,369 | 10 | 9 | 82 | 4 |
| Doctors knew enough about my condition and treatment. | 29,483 | 6 | 6 | 88 | 1 |
| Doctors explained the risks and benefits of any treatment in a way I could understand. | 28,042 | 5 | 6 | 88 | 1 |
| Doctors talked in a way that helped me understand my condition and treatment. | 29,021 | 6 | 6 | 88 | 1 |
| Doctors gave me clear explanations about any operations and procedures (e.g. what would happen, how I could expect to feel). | 25,126 | 6 | 7 | 87 | 1 |
| Doctors told me how my operation or procedure had gone in a way I could understand. | 23,078 | 6 | 7 | 87 | 0 |
| Doctors did not talk in front of me as if I was not there. | 27,280 | 11 | 10 | 79 | N/A |
| Doctors listened to me if I had any questions or concerns. | 28,600 | 5 | 7 | 88 | 2 |
| As far as I was aware doctors washed/cleaned their hands at appropriate times. | 26,570 | 4 | 10 | 87 | 1 |
* Not all rows add to 100% due to rounding, statistically significant differences are in bold
Nurses
6.5 Patients were asked how much they agreed with eight statements about their experiences of the nurses they had come into contact with during their most recent hospital stay. These findings are illustrated in Table 5.
6.6 The results range from 76 per cent of patients who agreed there was enough time to talk to the nurses and that nurses gave them clear explanations about their operations and procedures to 90 per cent who stated that as far as they were aware, nurses cleaned their hands at appropriate times.
6.7 The results were broadly similar to last year, although there was a three percentage point decrease in the percentage of patients who agreed that there was enough time to talk to the nurses. There were two percentage point increases in the percentage of patients who agreed that the nurses listened to them if they had any questions or concerns and who agreed that nurses washed/cleaned their hands at appropriate times.
Table 5 Summary of the results of questions asked about nurses encountered
| Statement or question | 2011 | Change from 2010 In Positive % |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total base (unweighted) | Negative % |
Neither positive nor negative % |
Positive % |
||
| Nurses introduced themselves to me. | 30,125 | 8 | 7 | 84 | N/A |
| There was enough time to talk to the nurses. | 29,987 | 13 | 11 | 76 | -3 |
| Nurses knew enough about my condition and treatment. | 29,561 | 8 | 11 | 81 | -1 |
| Nurses talked in a way that helped me understand my condition and treatment. | 28,993 | 8 | 12 | 80 | -1 |
| Nurses gave me clear explanations about any operations and procedures (e.g. what would happen, how I could expect to feel). | 24,521 | 10 | 14 | 76 | -1 |
| Nurses did not talk in front of me as if I was not there. | 27,868 | 9 | 10 | 81 | N/A |
| Nurses listened to me if I had any questions or concerns. | 29,384 | 5 | 8 | 87 | 2 |
| As far as I was aware nurses washed/cleaned their hands at appropriate times. | 27,987 | 3 | 7 | 90 | 2 |
* Not all rows add to 100% due to rounding, statistically significant differences are in bold
Releasing time to care [9]
6.8 The Releasing Time to Care ( RTC) Programme was offered to all NHS Boards in April 2009 and now all fifteen boards are involved in RTC activity. One of the aims of the programme is to increase the proportion of time nursing staff spend on direct patient care. However the percentage of patients who agree that they have enough time to talk to the nurses has decreased by three percentage points compared to last year. There may be differences in patients' expectations of the amount of time they will have to talk to doctors and nurses.
Hand Washing
6.9 The practice of staff routinely washing and cleaning hands after contact with patients is essential to control the spread of infection within hospitals. It is something that patients feel is very important [10]. The results show that four per cent of patients disagreed that doctors washed their hands at appropriate times and three per cent disagreed that nurses washed their hands at appropriate times. There will be differences in the perceptions of patients as to what constitutes hand washing at appropriate times.
6.10 The percentage of patients agreeing that doctors and nurses washed their hands at appropriate times has increased slightly from last year. The increase may be explained by the efforts to reduce cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff) because good hand washing practices are crucial to minimise the risk of transmission. NHSScotland has targets to reduce both types of infections and the rates of infection are decreasing. [11]
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