The majority of patients treated at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at Northampton General Hospital rated their experience as “good”, a independent survey has shown.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today published the finding of the 2012 patient survey for Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust which involved collecting feedback from 295 people who were treated in the A&E in February 2012.
Patients were asked to rate the department from one to 10 in response to a number of questions.
When asked to rate their overall experience of being treated and cared for in the A&E patients gave Northampton General Hospital (NGH) a score of 7.7, which fell in the same range as 60 per cent of all trusts in the country.
The trust did better than most other trusts in England on two questions relating to advice and information given when patients leave the department.
Suzie Loader, director of nursing at NGH, said: “The results are encouraging, bearing in mind the steadily increasing number of patients we are seeing in A&E, and the fact that the department was in the midst of a refurbishment in February while the survey was taking place.
“Since the survey, we have expanded and updated A&E, providing an additional five cubicles and a larger waiting area. A new way of working has been introduced which speeds up treatment of seriously ill patients, and includes an assessment by a senior doctor to facilitate investigations and treatment decisions during the busiest times. “These changes have helped to significantly reduce the time taken for ambulance patients to be handed over to the hospital.
“We have also enhanced patients’ privacy by creating a new reception area with partition screens between desks, and an intercom system so that people do not need to raise their voices.
“We have some brilliant staff in A&E who do remarkable work often in the most difficult circumstances, and we will all continue to do everything we can to provide the best possible care and treatment for patients in their hour of need.”
 |  |