Patients' opinion of their experiences in A&E at QA Hospital declines according to new survey

Hospital regulator the Care Quality Commission, which carried out the survey, said the long-term worsening of patient experience in NHS emergency care cannot be ignored.

The 196 respondents in PHU NHS Trust, which includes Queen Alexandra Hospital at Cosham, gave the hospital emergency department an average of 7.7 out of 10 for overall experience in 2022. This is down from a score of 8.2 when the survey was last done in 2020.

Nationally, 18 per cent of respondents gave a score of four or lower, with zero being a very poor experience. It was a leap from 8 per cent two years prior.

The CQC has previously said high call volumes and staff shortages in NHS 111 are leading to delays in people receiving medical advice and more people going to A&E. A lack of available GP and dental appointments means NHS 111 cannot always send people to those, leading to people being asked to call 999 or go to A&E instead, it added.

The survey also shows the proportion of people feeling they were treated with respect and dignity in hospitals across England declined from 81 per cent in 2020 to 72 per cent last year.

Patients gave the Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust a grade of 8.8 on the matter – a slight drop from 8.9 in the previous survey.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: "These results give a view of urgent and emergency healthcare through the eyes of the patient and reflect the challenges medical professionals working in urgent and emergency care experience every day."

"Every clinician wants to provide the best care possible. No one wants patients to have to wait excessive amounts of time to be treated, or for that treatment to be administered in an environment – such as a corridor – which lacks privacy."

For Portsmouth, patients gave a score of 5.2 out of 10 regarding the length of time they waited to be examined – a fall from 6.9 two years earlier.

Professor Liz Rix MBE, Chief Nurse at PHU NHS Trust, said: “With the increased pressures and demand we have been facing in emergency care, we are pleased that the overall results of the survey show that our work to improve patient experience has had a positive impact and that we are above the national average in this respect.

“We recognise that there is work to do around the time our patients can spend in the department. The teams have been working hard to introduce a number of improvements to address this and as part of our drive for patients to receive the right care in the right place in a timely way.

“Works are continuing on our new emergency department, which has been designed in collaboration with clinicians to provide an improved patient and staff experience and support us to meet the growing demand for services across Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.”

The new emergency department at QA is expected to open in winter 2024.