In-patients give verdicts on NGH
Northampton General Hospital is among the lowest rated acute trusts in England for the number of in-patients wanting to complain, despite scoring highly in a watchdog survey.
The vast majority of areas were on a par with rest of the country, but the Care Quality Commission study found the hospital rated among the worst in the country for care and treatment.
The survey, carried out in October last year, received responses from 470 patients who had stayed ovenight at NGH during last summer.
Although the hospital scored a favourable 8.8 out of 10 for responses to the question: 'Did you want to complain about the care you received in hospital?' this was still among the nine worst scores in the country.
Other categories where NGH was in the bottom nine in the country were patients being bothered at night by staff noise; conflicting information from hospital staff; information about treatment; access by family to a doctor; and explanation of the purpose of medication to be taken at home.
In 2009/2010 there were only 430 formal complaints from the 88,000 patients who were admitted to NGH.
Sue Hardy, NGH director of nursing & patient services, said: "Regarding complaints, we encourage patients and relatives to let us know if they are dissatisfied with any aspects of the care they have received.
"We investigate complaints in an open and honest way, and with a willingness to learn and make changes where needed.
"We know we have more work to do, but our patient experience trackers mean we are able to respond quickly to any concerns and ensure action is taken without delay."
Patient watchdog LINk (Local Involvement Network) said it was concerned about the complaints score, along with another area, patients being involved in their discharge from hospital.
Health group lead, Moya McVicar, said: "I do think that patients are given more and more opportunities to complain as there are more of these surveys. However it's very disappointing to see these scores and I can't understand it. I know everyone is working so hard to put things right and I can see the results of that. I think these surveys attract publicity and will have a negative impact on the hospital's reputation nationally, unfortunately."
For the full report visit: www.cqc.org.uk
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