Midlands Hospital Patients Typically Have A 'Good' Experience

The National Inpatient Experience Survey asks patients to score their experience in seven categories.

The majority of patients at midlands hospitals have rated their overall experience as 'good.'

The National In-Patient Experience Survey has found the three facilities scored an average of 8.3 out of ten, which is a marginal drop from last year's figure of 8.4.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore saw the largest drop in positive ratings from patients this year, from 8.6 last year to 8.2 this year.

Both the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise and Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar saw a drop of 0.1 compared to 2021's figures - they've both scored 8.4 this year.

Nationally, the average overall rating of care was 8.1 out of 10.

A total of 5,331 people (53.1%) said that they had a very good experience in hospital (overall rating between 9 and 10), while 2,897 people (28.8%)
rated their hospital experience as good (overall rating of 7-8) and 1,815 people (18.1%) said that their stay in hospital was fair to poor (overall rating of 0-6).

ADMISSIONS

Mullingar saw a significant drop in the 'admissions' category, falling from 8.3 in 2021 to 7.4 this year.

Portlaoise dropped by 0.1 to 8.4, while Tullamore has fallen from 8.6 to 8.1.

Nationally, the ‘admissions’ stage of the patient journey scored 7.8 out of 10.

Male participants gave more positive ratings than female participants.

Some differences were also found between people of different ages.

Participants aged 16 to 35 years and 36 to 50 years gave below-average ratings for this stage, while participants aged 66 to 80 years gave above-average ratings.

WAIT TIMES

Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar ranked the worst in the region in terms of Emergency Department waiting times.

Over two in ten patients reported waiting over 24 hours in the hospital's ED, an increase from 13% last year.

That figure is just over one in ten in Tullamore, a decrease from 16% in 2021.

Just 3.5% of patients in Portlaoise were forced to wait over 24 hours in the ED, the third lowest in the country, and a decrease of 1.2% from last year's survey.

In Ireland, the target waiting time for people in the emergency department is six hours for 70% of patients, with a target of six hours for 95% of patients aged 75 years and over.

In this survey, 2,141 (28.9%) of the 7,419 people who reported the length of time they waited, said that they waited less than six hours in the emergency department before being admitted to a ward.

The majority, that is 5,278 people (71.1%), said that they waited more than six hours before being admitted.

Of those, 334 people (4.5%) reported waiting 48 hours or more before they were admitted to a ward.

CARE IN THE WARD

Portlaoise ranked the highest in the region in this category, at 8.7 - that's an increase of 0.3 from last year.

Tullamore scored slightly lower, at 8.5, dropping by 0.2 in 2022.

A score of 8.2 was recorded in Mullingar, the lowest in the midlands and a drop of 0.1.

Nationally, ‘care on the ward’ scored 8.2 out of 10.

Males reported more positive experiences (score of 8.3 out of 10) of care on the ward than females (score of 8.0 out of 10).

People of different ages also had slightly different experiences of ‘care on the ward’.

Those in the two youngest age groups (16 to 35 and 36 to 50 years), as well as the oldest age group (81 years or older), reported more negative experiences of ‘care on the ward’ than people aged 51 to 65 and 66 to 80 years of age.

People aged 16 to 35 gave the lowest ratings of ‘care on the ward’ (score of 7.6 out of 10).

EXAMINATIONS, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

Patients at both Tullamore and Portlaoise gave an average score of 8.0 in the 'Examinations, Diagnosis and Treatment' category - this is a drop of 0.4 in Tullamore and an increase of 0.1 in Portlaoise, compared to last year.

Mullingar fell slightly behind it's regional counterparts with a score of 7.9, a marginal drop from 8.0 last year.

Nationally, ‘examinations, diagnosis and treatment’ scored 8.0 out of 10.

Males reported a more positive experience of this stage of care (score of 8.1 out of 10) than females (score of 7.9 out of 10).

Younger and older patient groups also reported different experiences of ‘examinations, diagnosis and treatment’.

People aged 16 to 35 and people aged 81 years or older reported more negative experiences than people aged 51 to 65 and 66 to 80.

Participants aged 16 to 35 (score 7.6 out of 10) gave the lowest ratings.

DISCHARGE OR TRANSFERS

The least pleasant experience for patients in the midlands was while they were being discharged or transferred to another hospital.

Mullingar scored the worst in the region and slightly below the national average in this category, with 6.7

In that category, Portlaoise ranked the highest in the region, at 7.3, and Tullamore was in the middle, at 7.0.

Nationally, ‘discharge or transfer’ scored 6.9 out of 10.

On average, men had a more positive experience of ‘discharge or transfer’ from hospital (score of 7.3 out of 10) than women (score of 6.6 out of 10).

Younger age groups (16 to 35 and 36 to 50 years), as well as people aged over 80 years, reported more negative experiences of ‘discharge or transfer’ than people aged 51 to 80 years.

Younger people (16 to 35 years) reported the most negative experience of any age group (score of 6.3 out of 10), whereas people aged 51 to 80 gave the highest rating for this stage of care (score of 7.2 out of 10).

PANDEMIC CARE

Patients were also asked about the care they received during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The score in this category also relates to how staff handled patients' questions on the virus.

Portlaoise ranked the highest in the region in 'Pandemic Care,' scoring 7.8 out of 10.

Mullingar received a score of 7.6, and Tullamore was marginally behind, with 7.5

Nationally, ‘care during the pandemic’ scored 7.4 out of 10.

On average, men had a more positive experience of ‘care during the pandemic’ (score of 7.6 out of 10) than women (score of 7.2 out of 10).

People in the youngest (16 to 35 years), and oldest (81 years and above) age groups reported more negative experiences of ‘care during the pandemic’ than people aged 51 to 65 years.

People aged 81 years and above reported the most negative experience of any age group (score of 6.8 out of 10), whereas people aged 51 to 80 gave the highest rating for this stage of care (score of 7.6 out of 10).