A new report from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) shows how 25,658 patients rated the care they received in NSW public hospitals from January to December 2024.
BHI Acting Chief Executive Ms Hilary Rowell said the results of the Adult Admitted Patient Survey 2024 show that more than nine in 10 patients (92 percent) rated their experiences of care, overall, as 'very good' or 'good'.
"The majority of patients were positive about the care they received and ratings for most questions at NSW-level were consistent with the previous year's survey," Ms Rowell said.
Patients' ratings of their care in some key areas included:
- 78 percent of patients said the care and treatment they received 'definitely' helped them – a broad patient-reported outcome of care measure
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- 80 percent of patients said they 'definitely' had confidence and trust in the health professionals who treated them
- 90 percent of patients said their cultural or religious beliefs were 'always’ respected by hospital staff, and 88 percent said they were 'always' treated with respect and dignity – a key driver of positive overall experiences
- 74 percent of patients said health professionals 'always' listened carefully to their views and concerns – among the largest improvements across the survey (up from 72 percent in 2023).
The survey results also highlight some areas where efforts to improve services can be focused.
One of the largest declines since the previous survey was in ratings of food.
In 2024, 21 percent of patients said they would rate the food they were served in hospital as ‘very good’ (down from 24 percent in 2023), along with 44 percent of patients who rated the food as ‘good’.
The report showed patients admitted to rural hospitals gave significantly higher ratings of care than patients admitted to urban hospitals, with 72 percent of rural patients rating their overall care as 'very good' compared with 66 percent of urban patients.
The report also shows which survey questions had the strongest influence on whether patients gave positive ratings of their overall care.
Patients were nine times more likely to rate their care, overall, as 'very good' if they said their care was 'very well organised' and three times more likely if they said they were 'always' treated with respect and dignity.
"These insights give health professionals guidance on where they can focus on improving care, to have the most impact on patients' overall experiences," Ms Rowell said.
Additionally, following BHI's reporting of increased length of stay in NSW public hospitals since 2021, further analyses of these survey results show the relationship between patient experience and length of stay in hospital.
For many measures, the longer patients stayed in hospital the less likely they were to rate their care positively, particularly for measures relating to communication and involvement in decision-making.
