Survey reveals patients mostly satisfied with public hospitals

THE Bureau of Health Information (BHI) has released a report showing how 25,658 patients rated the care they received in NSW public hospitals between January and December 2024.

BHI Acting Chief Executive Hilary Rowell, said the Adult Admitted Patient Survey 2024 showed that more than nine in 10 patients (92%) rated their experience of overall care as “very good” or “good”.

“The majority of patients were positive about the care they received and ratings for most questions at NSW-level were consistent with the previous year’s survey,” she said.

On the Mid-North Coast, 89 percent of patients rated the care they received in hospital as “good” or “very good”.

Macksville patients were the most positive about their care, with 84 percent rating their care as “very good”, compared to Kempsey (79%), Coffs Harbour (68%) and Port Macquarie (66%).
Mid-North Coast patients’ satisfaction with their public hospital care ranked mid-range when compared with other local health districts.

Across the state, 78 percent of patients said the care and treatment they received “definitely” helped them while 80 percent said they “definitely” had confidence and trust in the health professionals who treated them

Ninety percent of patients said their cultural or religious beliefs were “always” respected by hospital staff, and 88 percent said they were “always” treated with respect and dignity – a key driver of positive overall experiences.

Seventy-four percent of patients said health professionals “always” listened carefully to their views and concerns, which was one of the largest improvements across the survey (up from 72% in 2023).

The survey results also highlight areas where improvements are needed.

“These insights give health professionals guidance on where they can focus on improving care, to have the most impact on patients’ overall experiences,” Ms Rowell said.

One of the largest declines since the previous survey was in the rating of food.

In 2024, only 21 percent of patients said they would rate the food they were served in hospital as “very good” (down from 24% in 2023), with 44% of patients rating the food as just “good”.

The report shows patients admitted to rural hospitals gave significantly higher ratings of care than patients admitted to urban hospitals, with 72 percent of rural patients rating their overall care as “very good” compared with 66 percent of urban patients.

Patients were nine times more likely to rate their care, overall, as “very good” if it was “very well organised” and three times more likely if they said they were “always” treated with respect and dignity.

For many measures, the longer patients stayed in hospital the less likely they were to rate their care positively, particularly for measures relating to communication and involvement in decision-making.

By Andrew VIVIAN