Patients and Families Rate the Care They Receive in Hospital

A state-wide survey found that 91.6%. of  patients, parents or carers of  patients at The Children's Hospital at Westmead rated the  overall  care they received as good, very good or excellent, an improvement on the 2008 figure of 88.6%.

Key Findings for The Children's Hospital at Westmead are:  

• The Children's Hospital at Westmead has achieved 94.4%, the .highest performance on overall care rating in peer group within the patient category: Outpatients - Paediatric Specialist.
• Overall care for inpatients was rated at 93.2%, a slight improvement over the 2008 figure of .92.8%
• Performance in terms of the overall care rating for emergency patients that were not admitted was 81.5%, up on the previous year's result of 80.0%.

The report also suggested areas for improvement, for example, improving emotional support given to patients.  

Deputy Premier and Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt  said,  "We aim to ensure the patient is at the centre of everything we do in healthcare, so having direct feedback is extremely valuable."

"The 2009 survey was compiled based on responses from around 80,000 patients across all eight Area Health Services, as well as The Children's Hospital at Westmead", said Ms Tebbutt.   "The vast majority of patients - 91 percent - rated their care as good, very good or excellent, compared to 88 percent in 2007."

The survey is now in its third year. A questionnaire is sent to a random, representative sample of

patients who received inpatient, emergency or outpatient surveys in February. In 2009, The Children's Hospital at Westmead had 1,024 surveys completed and returned, a response rate of 34.4%.

The survey measures patient experience in 8 areas:

• Access to care
• Respect for patients' values, preferences and expressed needs
• Coordination and integration of care
• Information and education
• Transition and continuity
• Physical comfort
• Emotional support
• Involvement of family and friends