Hospitals win praise for young patient care
Hospital staff have been praised for keeping families in Sunderland involved in the treatment of children and young people who needed inpatient treatment during the pandemic.
South Tyneside and SunderlandNHSFoundationTrust has been given high ratings in the latest NHS Children and Young People’s Patient ExperienceSurveybytheCareQuality Commission (CQC), which involved 125 acute and specialist trusts across England.
The Trust provides specialist children’s services from threewardsatSunderlandRoyal Hospital caring for children and young people from South Tyneside and Sunderland – withnurses,doctors,surgeons, healthcareassistants,playspecialists and occupational therapistprovidingroundtheclock care for children who need to stay in hospital.
The CQC survey asked parents, carers, and the young patients to rate their experience in hospital out of 10 and staff at Sunderland Royal Hospital scoredthehighestintheNorth East.
These included: *Beingwithachildasmuch as they needed to be (9.8 out of ten).
*Understanding information from staff (9.5).
*Beingwellinformedabout their child’s care (9.2).
*Staff being available when their child needed attention (9.1)
Questionnaires were given to children, young people and their families who were in hospital between November 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021, a periodwhentheNHSwasbusy dealingwithCovid-19aswellas usual winter pressures.
Melanie Johnson, the Trust’s director of nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals said: “We are incredibly proud of the services we offer to our younger patients and the expert staff who deliver such a wealth of care for children and young people across South Tyneside, Sunderland.
“It has been difficult for families during the pandemic whohavespenttimeinhospital with their children and we are particularly proud that familiesfelttheycouldbewiththeir loved ones as much as they needed to be.
“Patient feedback is vital for us to understand the experience of patients in our care and that of their families and carers. Our younger patients aregreatattellinguswhatthey likeandwhatneedstoimprove and this feedback is so important as we look to see what improvements are needed.”