Test results prove patients in the Northern Trust have a positive experience

The latest patient and client survey results from the Northern Trust indicates that 75% of patients feel very satisfied with their stay in hospital, while the remaining 25% feel satisfied.

In April 2009 the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) published the ‘Improving the Patient & Client Experience’. This set out new standards to promote the delivery of high quality, effective care by ensuring patient and clients have a positive experience. The document sets out five key standards. These are: respect, attitude, privacy and dignity, behaviour and communication.

Carolyn Kerr, Deputy Director of Nursing said, “At the Northern Trust we believe that patients and clients should be treated as people who have different needs, wants and beliefs. The individual is at the heart of everything we do. All staff have been issued with a copy of a pocket-sized standards guide. The guide contains information on the standards expected and examples of excellence in practice, when the patient and clients have experienced high quality, person-centred care.

“All staff are asked to ensure that all communication with patients and clients is respectful and that it displays a caring and professional attitude. We want to ensure that our patients and clients feel they have been treated courteously and respectfully by us. We want to ensure that patients feel that they have been provided with privacy when sensitive or personal issues are being discussed or personal care is being delivered.

“The patient and client experience is measured using feedback from patients, observations of practice, staff feedback and an audit of organisational arrangements. The five core standards have been converted into key performance indicators (KPIs) against which we can measure our performance.

“The figures from the latest survey show that overall patients are happy with their experience. However the Trust is committed to continually improving service delivery to patients and clients and will work with staff to highlight areas of good practice and, in the case of lower levels of satisfaction, produce an action plan to ensure appropriate action is taken”.

“Having to come into hospital is not usually a pleasant experience, but through improving the peoples' experience, we hope to make it as pleasant and as comfortable as possible."

Page last updated:28 July 2010