Patients have their say on experience in Wexford General Hospital

WEXFORD General Hospital is one of 40 hospitals participating in the National Patient Experience Survey, a new nationwide survey asking patients for their views on hospital care.

An estimated 27,000 patients are eligible to participate including approximately 700 in the Wexford area, making it the largest single survey of the healthcare system to be conducted in Ireland. All adult patients who spend at least 24 hours in a public hospital and who are discharged during the month of May will be asked to complete the survey.

The National Patient Experience Survey covers all aspects of a patients’ stay in hospital, including admission and discharge, the ward environment, interaction with staff and care and treatment. It contains 58 tick-box questions and three open-ended questions giving participants the opportunity to comment on what they found good about the care they received in hospital and also to provide suggestions for improvement.

Visiting Wexford General Hospital last week, Rachel Flynn of Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) encouraged all eligible Wexford patients to participate in the survey.

‘ This is a great opportunity for patients to tell us about their hospital experience. By taking part in the National Patient Experience Survey patients can help us to identify areas for improvement and also tell us about the positive work that is carried out every day in Irish hospitals’, she said.

HIQA has joined forces with the HSE and the Department of Health to carry out the survey which will be used to improve the standard of hospital care for all patients, not just in Wexford General Hospital, but across the country.

Patient experience surveys are regularly conducted in other countries, including Scotland, England, Denmark and New Zealand.

Patients eligible to participate in the National Patient Experience Survey will receive a survey pack in the post approximately two weeks after their discharge from Wexford General Hospital.

The pack will the contain survey, an information leaflet and a Freepost envelope . The survey can also be completed online up to July 26, 2017.

Find out more about the National Patient Experience Survey at www.patientexperience.ie.