Hawke's Bay hospitals have again rated well for service. Photo / File
Hawke's Bay hospitals have again ranked highly in a national survey of patients' experiences.
Health Quality & Safety Commission asked inpatients between November 3 and 16 last year to rate the communication, partnership and co-ordination of their care out of 10.
The hospitals were rated between 8.5 and 8.9 in each of the areas. Nationally, the average rating was 8 or higher.
Patients were also asked 20 detailed questions, with the possible answers: "Yes, definitely," "yes, to some extent" or "no".
Hawke's Bay District Health Board (DHB) received a 100 per cent "yes, definitely" response to whether patients felt cultural support was available when needed.
There was a 90 per cent "yes, definitely" response to whether patients felt staff had treated them with dignity and respect, and an 88 per cent response to whether patients felt staff treated them with kindness and understanding.
The hospitals' lowest "yes, definitely" answers were to the questions: "Did a member of staff tell you about medication side effects to watch for when you went home?" (47 per cent) and "Do you feel you received enough information from the hospital on how to manage your condition after your discharge?" (61 per cent).
Hawke's Bay DHB director of quality improvement and patient safety Kate Shambler said the health board was pleased with its scores. "The DHB has made improvements across all of the key areas," she said. "Our overall scores for the four categories were above the New Zealand average.
"There are areas where we need to improve, but it appears that the issues of providing effective information around medication side effects are common across other DHBs and we will need to make sure that this is an area of focus."
The DHB was particularly pleased with the 100 per cent scored in response to cultural support being available, but recognised more work to do to engage Maori and get them taking part in the survey, she said
Several projects were under way to improve patients' experiences, she said.
"These include acute inpatient management programme AIM 24/7; improving theatre productivity; falls minimisation; and releasing time to care programmes that are focused on efficiency and productivity so clinical staff have more time to spend with patients and their whanau."
Nationally, the survey found the more than 6000 respondents were generally satisfied with their experiences - but improvements could be made.
The highest portion of "yes, definitely" answers (87 per cent) nationally was in response to the question: "Overall, did you feel staff treated you with respect and dignity while you were in the hospital?"
The lowest portion of "yes, definitely" answers (47 per cent) was in response to the question: "Did a member of staff tell you about medication side effects to watch for when you went home?" Dr John Barnard, the commission's clinical lead for medication safety, said the low score across DHBs for advice about medication side effects showed there was work to be done.
"It is important to take the time to find out what a patient understands about their medicines," he said. "Written advice is useful with any medicine, because patients may not remember all they are told, and it is essential for high-risk medicines."
Other questions which received low "yes, definitely" responses nationally were:
-"Did the hospital staff include your family/whanau or someone close to you in discussions about your care?"' (55 per cent)
- "Do you feel you received enough information from the hospital on how to manage your condition after your discharge?" (61 per cent)
-"Were you involved as much as you wanted to be in decisions about your care and treatment?" (69 per cent).NZME.