Today (21st November) the results of the National Urgent and Emergency Care Survey were published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Patients who attended either an Urgent Treatment Centre (Penrith and Keswick) or A&E (Carlisle and Whitehaven) during February 2024 were surveyed about their experiences.

We are pleased to see that we are have performed "better than expected" compared nationally to other NHS trusts in a number of key areas for urgent treatment. These areas were 'Health professionals', 'Privacy', 'Care and treatment', and 'Leaving the urgent treatment centre'. We also scored "somewhat better than expected" in 'Tests' and 'Experience overall'.

Patients who attended one of our Urgent Treatment Centres were particularly positive around:

  • Feeling that they had enough time to discuss their condition with a health professional
  • Feeling listened to
  • Being given enough privacy when being examined or treated
  • Not feeling threatened by other patients or visitors

For A&E services, our scores are "about the same" as other NHS trusts, with feedback that the process around 'Leaving A&E' is "somewhat better than expected" compared to other trusts.

Patients who attended A&E were positive around:

  • Being involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment
  • Being given information on how to care for their condition at home in a way they could understand
  • Hospital staff discussing if any further health or social care services were needed after leaving A&E

However, feedback highlighted that we performed "worse than expected" in one question for Urgent Treatment Centres (access to food and drink), and one question for A&E (privacy at reception).

Alison Patterson, Acting Deputy Chief Nurse, from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said:

"We welcome these national patient experience survey results for urgent and emergency care. These results provide invaluable feedback from those who matter most - our patients.

“We are committed to using this feedback constructively, and work is already underway to make improvements. Our Patient Experience Team regularly go into patient areas, such as the Emergency Department for feedback, as well as analysing the results from both national and local surveys.

“We are dedicated to listening to our patient's experiences and feedback, so that we can better understand their needs and make meaningful improvements."

Ongoing improvements include an increased presence of volunteers within the waiting areas in both Emergency Departments to keep people informed about waiting times and to make sure people get something to eat/drink where appropriate and during long waits.

 

National results are available here: Urgent and emergency care survey 2024 - Care Quality Commission

NCIC results for Urgent Treatment Centres are here: North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust - Care Quality Commission

NCIC results for A&E are here: North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust - Care Quality Commission