Publications

Adult Inpatient Survey 2016

The results from the 2016 adult inpatient survey were published on the 31st May 2017. You can find all national results, trust benchmarking reports, open source data and technical details on our website: www.cqc.org.uk/publications/surveys/adult-inpatient-survey-2016. We received feedback from over 77,000 inpatients across England.

 For the first time this year we have published results at hospital level. You can find this on the NHS surveys website: http://www.nhssurveys.org/surveys/935. A separate outlier’s report which focuses on variation in trust performance will be published soon.

The results of the survey indicate that there have been small, but statistically significant improvements in a number of questions, compared with results dating back to the 2006, 2011 and 2015 surveys. This includes patients’ perceptions of:

· the quality of communication between medical professionals (doctors and nurses) and patients

· the standards of hospital cleanliness

· quality of food

However, there are several instances where survey results have declined since last year, disrupting the overall upward trend since 2006. In particular, there have been small falls in areas such as continuity of care, discharge, waiting times, and support when leaving the hospital, suggesting that increasing demands and stretched resources are beginning to affect the quality of hospital care. CQC is concerned that in all areas of analysis, the experiences of patients who have mental health conditions were poorer than for patients with no mental health conditions. There were also some distinct differences for gay and lesbian respondents, who reported poorer experience for emotional support, coordination and integration of care and respect and dignity.

CQC's Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, will write to trusts with poor performance to urge them to review their results and to outline what actions they will take to address the areas of concern.

Upcoming Surveys

Emergency Department Survey 2016

Fieldwork for the survey has successfully been completed. All materials (such as the questionnaire, covering letters and instruction manuals) for the 2016 Emergency Department Survey have now been published on the NHS surveys website: www.nhssurveys.org/surveys/957

Analysis of data from this survey is currently underway and publication date will be confirmed shortly.

Children and Young People’s Survey 2016

Fieldwork for the survey ended at the beginning of June and work has begun on analysing this data for publication. Publication is currently scheduled for October with the final publication date to be confirmed.  Once again we will present the results of children’s feedback separately from their parents and carers; as well as looking at how the experience of different groups of patients varies.

Community Mental Health 2017/18

The results from the 2017 community mental health survey will be published in November. Development will soon begin for the 2018 iteration. We held an advisory group on the 7th June which included stakeholders from organisations like NHS England, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Mind, and Community Options, as well as two patient representatives and CQC staff. Thank you to all those who contributed to such a productive discussion. Subject to ethical approval, we hope to pilot some interesting interventions to improve response rates next year. This includes exploring the feasibility of a much shorter questionnaire and trialling online options.

Maternity Survey 2017

This survey is in the field until the end of August. We expect to publish results in early December. For those on social media, we will be using #maternity2017 in online discussions.

Inpatient Survey 2017 

We will soon be asking trusts to begin sampling for our annual NHS Inpatient Survey. This year we are piloting two interventions in a bid to tackle declining response rates.  Response rates are not only an issue for us, but also for the wider survey community. Both interventions will be tested on sample boost, which will not interfere with the results from the main sample, and will involve only a small number of trusts.

The first intervention is an SMS reminder to sample members who have not yet responded. The Survey Program previously piloted this intervention back in 2007, though patient mobile numbers were at that time rarely collected. However, uptake of technology within the general population has led to more trusts collecting such information- making this pilot feasible again. 

The second intervention involves reducing the length of time before a reminder letter is mailed out. For this we will send a reminder five working days after the first mailing. This intervention aims to engage sample member sooner - before the survey’s purpose becomes irrelevant or disinteresting, which increases the risk of non-response.

These intervention pilots are an exciting opportunity for the Survey Program to tackle nonresponse. We encourage trusts to get involved, where possible, and be part of an exciting project. Please contact us if you are interested in getting involved