St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny ranks near bottom in new national patient survey
St Luke’s General Hospital has come close to the bottom of a new national patient experience survey.
Kilcreene Regional Orthopeadic Hospital, on the other hand, received glowing endorsements, coming close to the top of the rankings.
The National Inpatient Experience Survey, run in conjunction with the National Care Experience Programme, asks patients about their hospital experiences and acting on their feedback, tries to improve the quality of care provided in Irish hospitals.
Of the 39 hospitals surveyed, St Luke’s came fourth from bottom with a 7.9 out of 10 rating, far below the national average of 8.3.
University Hospital Waterford (7.7), South Tipperary General Hospital(7.7) and University Hospital Limerick (7.8) were the only hospitals to receive a lower rating than St Luke’s.
Kilkcreene scored well above this, receiving 9.3 out of 10, and only bettered Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin (9.5), Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Limerick (9.4) and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork.
Nationally, 26,897 people were invited to participate in the third National Inpatient Experience Survey. In total, 12,343 people responded. 291 patients from St. Luke’s General Hospital took part.
It was not all bad news for St Luke’s. Ratings of admission were higher than the national average, while waiting times for admission to a ward were lower than the national average.
Most patients said that they were treated with respect and dignity while they were in the emergency department. However, the hospital fell down on areas such as consulting time with doctors and poor communication with doctors and nurses.
Kilcreene scored above the national average for every stage of care, and for ‘overall experience’ from its 62 respondents, with 100% of patients said they had a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ experience.
Many patients said that they received clear explanations of the results of tests and clear answers when they had questions about operations and procedures. In addition, most patients said that they received enough information on how to manage their condition at home.
