New rating blow for hospital
The trust managing troubled Stafford Hospital received another poor rating for emergency care in a patient survey made public today.
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was rated "about the same" as other trusts in nine out of ten main categories in the national Inpatient Survey – but was judged to be "worse" in the remaining one, concerning crucial A&E care.
Answers to 12 questions placed it in the bottom 20 per cent of trusts in the country – and only two responses placed it in the top 20 per cent. However, hospital bosses have pointed out that the trust's performance is an improvement on previous years.
The data came from an annual questionnaire exercise which was carried out at the end of last year by the-now Care Quality Commission, which was formerly the Healthcare Commission before a recent rebranding.
Completed forms were received from 437 inpatients from both Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals, out of 850 sent out.
Mid Staffordshire was rated worse than most other trusts in 12 areas within the ten main categories. The trust was rated in the bottom 20 per cent of its kind on questions concerning issues including:
* Patients being given information about their condition in A&E.
* Emergency patients' waits before getting a bed on a ward.
* Patients feeling there were enough nurses on duty to care for them.
* Patients having confidence and trust in the doctors treating them.
* Doctors being seen washing or cleaning their hands between touching patients.
* Patients being given enough information on their condition and treatment.
* How well patients rated doctors and nurses working together.
* The involvement of family and friends of patients and their ability to talk to doctors if they wanted.
The trust was only rated as being better than most other trusts in two areas – concerning patients being offered a choice of hospitals for appointments and patients being asked for their views on the care they received. The survey comes after the Healthcare Commission's damning report on Stafford Hospital, which was released in March.
However, the trust points out that more Mid Staffordshire patients said they were treated with respect and dignity during their hospital stay compared with the previous year's figures.
