HSE welcomes findings of 2024 National Inpatient Experience Survey

Today, the HSE welcomed HIQA’s findings of the National Inpatient Experience Survey 2024 highlighting the experiences of patients in public acute hospitals across Ireland.    

A detailed HSE response report, Listening, Responding and Improving was also published today, outlining the work underway to address the issues highlighted by participants in the survey.    

In total 12,367 patients took part in the survey, sharing feedback on their experience of care in Irish hospitals. The findings showed the majority of respondents (85%) rated their hospital care experience positively, with 58% rating their care as “very good” and 27% as “good”.

Compared to 2022 survey findings, the 2024 results show patients’ rating of their overall care experiences have improved, particularly regarding being discharged from hospital, which had consistently received the lowest scores in previous surveys.

In 2024, patients indicated positive interactions with healthcare staff, with:

• 83.8% reporting they always felt treated with respect and dignity
• 79.1% always trusting hospital staff
• 78.7% reporting adequate pain management
• 79% feeling fully confident in the safety of their treatment and care

However the survey also identified a number of key areas to be improved including that:

• 19.7% said they were unable to find staff to discuss their worries
• 15.3% reported not receiving enough information on managing their condition post-discharge
• 13.4% said their family did not have enough opportunities to talk to a doctor
• 72.6% reported waiting longer than six hours before being admitted to a ward, with 1,078 people (13.4%) waiting more than 24 hours

Welcoming the survey findings, Bernard Gloster, HSE CEO said: ‘‘I want to thank every individual who took the time to respond to this survey and share their experiences. Listening and learning is a core part of delivering safe, effective healthcare. “This survey identifies key areas for improvement in patient care, as well as strengths that we can build on. I want to reassure patients we will use this valuable feedback to continue to work to improve our services. This work is already underway in our hospitals through the quality improvement initiatives outlined in the HSE response report, also published today.

“While we have seen improvements in 2024 with our acute hospitals delivering higher levels of activity and treating more patients making a real difference, there has been increased demand and higher than anticipated levels of attendances.

“This critical area remains a high priority for us to improve. We will continue to take every opportunity to ensure our emergency departments treat those who need emergency care as quickly and safely as possible.

This doesn’t just involve our hospitals, but also developing community-based healthcare to support people to stay well and avoid the need to go to hospital or reduce the number of hospital stays.”

This HSE response report outlines how a range of quality improvement initiatives are already underway both at national and regional levels. These include:

• The National Healthcare Communication Programme, which is designed to support healthcare staff to learn, develop and maintain their communication skills with patients, their families and with colleagues. The Programme’s app is a practical tool to help healthcare staff to consistently use core communication skills in every encounter with the people who use health services.
• The National Complaints Governance and Learning Team (Your Service Your Say) recently developed initiatives to ensure people know how to voice opinions, provide comments and to complain. These include the redesign of ‘Your Service Your Say’ leaflets in collaboration with NALA, a leaflet designed for children and the addition of a QR code to allow access to information in 24 different languages.
• A process being put in place in University Hospital Galway to further ensure the patient receives the correct amount of information they need to manage their condition on discharge. This is building on existing initiatives in this area.
• A number of quality improvement initiatives being implemented in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Co Limerick with one area of focus to further ensure patients with a disability or long-term condition continue to talk to staff about any worries or fears they have. A range of positive developments are in planning including staff awareness days and communication skills training.
• In HSE West and North West in response to feedback from patients living with dementia, Patient Passports were rolled out in hospital sites in conjunction with community colleagues. The document acts to support people who have communication difficulties with their transfer to any care setting.

Joe Ryan, HSE National Director for Public Involvement, Culture and Risk Management,  said:  ‘‘This is the sixth national inpatient survey and I am pleased that patient participation remains high with a response rate of 41% and that the majority of people (85%) rated their overall experience of hospital care as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. “The strong response rate tells us that patients have a desire to talk about their experiences in hospital and contribute to efforts to improve our health service. I am committed to working with colleagues to ensure the survey findings will continue to inform on-going quality improvement priorities and projects.’’

“The specific 2024 quality improvement plans in our HSE response report are a direct response to the low scoring areas highlighted in this year’s survey. It is clear from these plans that driving improvement is, and will continue to be, a key priority for hospital staff and teams. ‘’