A SURVEY of patients at Ipswich Hospital has revealed people don’t feel they are given enough emotional support.

East Anglian Daily Times: The hospital's infection control policy received a boost as patients noted hand wash is readily available across the hospitalThe hospital's infection control policy received a boost as patients noted hand wash is readily available across the hospital (Image: Archant © 2006)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of adult inpatients scored the hospital in Heath Road 6.3 out of 10 for the sub-category emotional support but rated them as fairing worse than other hospitals.

It was the only category where the hospital faired worse, with the overall picture showing the hospital performing as well as other trusts.

The survey shows the hospital excelling in tackling infections, achieving a score of 9.8 out of 10 in the availability of hand wash sub-category – showing the hospital is performing better than other trusts.

The survey was sent to 850 recent inpatients at the Heath Road hospital between September last year and January – 456 patients responded.

Jan Ingle, hospital spokeswoman said: “The way the report is now compiled, it shows we are performing about the same as most other hospitals.

“We are probably better in one area – making sure there is lots of hand wash available for people to use.

“Our campaign to tackle infections has been given a boost with this news.

“We want to be the best we possibly can be at giving patients the best possible experience of the hospital.

“While this survey is reassuring to see these results, it is a platform for us to become even better.

“We are going to look very carefully at the emotional support indicator to understand what more we should be doing and to look at other hospitals who are achieving much higher levels of patient satisfaction. We will be working to understand and address this. It is important know they are important.”

The hospital recorded its highest rating for one of the 10 core areas in the waiting list and planned admissions category - achieving 9.2 out of 10. At the other end of the scale the core area where the hospital performed worse was overall views and experiences – in line with other hospitals – achieving 4.9 out of 10.

Other categories included nurses, doctors, leaving hospital and care and treatment.