Published on: 14 February 2022
The steps taken by hospital staff to involve families in the treatment of children and young people who needed to stay in hospital during the height of the pandemic has been praised as part of a national survey.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) has been given high ratings in the latest 2020 NHS Children and Young People’s Patient Experience Survey by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which involved 125 acute and specialist trusts across England*.
STSFT provides specialist children’s services from three wards at Sunderland Royal Hospital caring for children and young people across South Tyneside and Sunderland up to the age of 16.
Dedicated teams of nurses, doctors, surgeons, health care assistants, hospital play specialists and occupational therapist provide round the clock care for children who need to stay in hospital for a variety of reasons.
The national CQC survey asked parents and carers, as well as children and young people themselves, to rate their experience in hospital out of 10.
Staff received glowing reports from families, with the children’s wards at Sunderland Royal Hospital scoring the highest of every other hospital in the North East for families feeling:
- they could be with their child as much as they needed to be (9.8 out of 10)
- they understood information from staff (9.5 out of 10)
- they were informed about their child’s care in hospital (9.2 out of 10)
- that staff were available when their child needed attention (9.1 out of 10)
The Trust scored above the national average and amongst the best in the NHS in a number of other areas including families feeling that staff worked well together (9.4) and feeling involved in decisions about their child’s care and treatment (9 out of 10).
Children and young people aged 8 to 15 years also had high praise for staff and felt able to ask staff questions (9.7 out of 10) and that staff explained well what would happen before an operation or procedure (9.8 out of 10).
Questionnaires were given to children, young people and their families who were in hospital between November 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021, a period when the NHS was busy dealing with COVID-19 as well as usual winter pressures.
Melanie Johnson, The Trust’s Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals said: “We are incredibly proud of the services we offer to our younger patients and the expert staff who deliver such a wealth of care for children and young people across South Tyneside, Sunderland and indeed further afield.
“It has been difficult for families during the pandemic who have spent time in hospital with their children and we are particularly proud that families felt they could be with their loved ones as much as they needed to be.
“Patient feedback is a vital measure for us to understand the experience of patients in our care and that of their families and carers.
"Our younger patients are great at telling us what they like and what needs to improve and it is great to see such high levels of satisfaction across the board.
"This feedback is so important as we look to the future and look to see what improvements are needed.”
The CQC survey also highlighted areas for improvement at STSFT including looking at providing more things to do for the older 8-15 year age group and providing more food that the children and young people liked.
The CQC survey complements the Trust’s own patient experience feedback programme which aims to continuously improve services by listening to and acting on feedback.
