Children and young people have reported overwhelmingly positive experiences as patients at Royal Brompton Hospital, according to a new report.
The biennial Care Quality Commission (CQC) Children and Young People’s Patient Experience Survey 2020 revealed that Royal Brompton Hospital performed ‘much better than expected’ for the experiences of patients aged 8 to 15. The hospital witnessed a 7% increase in parent satisfaction with overnight stays.
The CQC survey asked a total of 93 different questions across three questionnaires, completed by the parents and carers of inpatients and day case patients aged 0-7 years, and by patients aged 8 to 11 and 12 to 15 and their parents and carers.
The results highlight their experiences of the hospital care they received in November and December 2020 and January 2021.
Patients felt Royal Brompton Hospital staff, described by respondents as “superheroes” providing “care, expertise and attention” in a “second home,” were friendly and provided them with excellent care.
The entire staff community enhanced the patient experience, according to one parent. “Not only [were] the doctors and nurses wonderful, it was the security staff, the housekeeper, play specialists, staff doing her scan, x-rays, echo and blood tests…”
Another parent commented: “I've seen many other hospitals due to my son’s ongoing care, but Brompton Hospital has definitely exceeded my expectations.”
Karen Taylor, Lead for Arts, Patient and Public Engagement, said: “The results capture a snapshot of the hugely positive experiences of young people who received care at Royal Brompton Hospital.
“We are incredibly proud of our staff, who demonstrated consistently excellent care during the height of the second Covid-19 wave, at a time when NHS services were facing extreme pressures.”
Royal Brompton Hospital achieved results that were better than or the same as other Trusts for 64 questions, excelling in areas including privacy during care and treatment on the ward, staff’s pre- and post-procedure patient support communication, the operations and procedure around fully explaining treatment prior to care, and the kindness and support shown to patients after leaving hospital.
Victoria Felton, Head of Nursing for Children's Services, said: “I am so proud of the whole paediatric team for this amazing achievement. This report shows the consistent hard work of the team providing expert care and support to all our children and their families.”
Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, CEO of Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, complimented the positive feedback. “The fantastic survey findings reinforce the belief that every patient deserves the best possible care, which is central to our organisation. I am immensely proud that the hard work and expertise of our paediatric teams has been recognised and appreciated by patients and their families.”
Looking to the future with young voices
None of the scores in the survey rated Royal Brompton Hospital below the national average in any area, however the hospital will focus on areas for quality improvement work, including:
- Food and self-catering
- Overnight facilities for families with complex needs
- Communication in terms of reducing conflicting information
- Access to WiFi.
The Patient and Public engagement Team will present the findings to its youth forum (RBH Trailblazers) with a view to working with young people to make improvements to the relevant services.