Putting quality of care at the heart of the NHS: patient and public perceptions Q
To what extent do you agree or disagree that the following people at your local NHS hospital have high quality of care as their top priority? % Tend to agree % Strongly disagree
% Strongly agree % Tend to disagree
Hospital nurses
46
Hospital doctors and consultants Staff who are not medically trained, such as caterers, porters and cleaners Senior management at the hospital
% Neither/nor % No opinion
37
43
39
23
14
39
28
10
12
11
10
Net agree
5 435
+76
6 435
+75
10 5
13
25
+47
+20
Base: All respondents (3,515); fieldwork dates 10th March – 14th April 2009
Inpatients, the group most likely to see non-medical staff at the hospital, tend to be the most positive about them, with 70% agreeing that non-medical staff put quality of care as their top priority (compared to a 62% overall). Interestingly, patients do not seem to hold doctors, consultants and nurses in any higher esteem than the general public – they are highly thought-of across all residents. West Midlands staff generally think that senior managers in their Trusts are committed to improving the quality of patient care, with over half agreeing that they are (56%), and just under one in six disagreeing (15%). This is a more positive view than patients and the general public have, one in five of whom think senior managers do not have high quality care as their top priority (21%). However, staff perceptions of senior management communication and engagement with front line staff are more negative. Only just over one in three staff agree that communication between senior management and front line staff is effective (35%) and the same proportion disagree. Similarly, fewer than three in ten agree that senior managers try to involve front line staff in important decisions (28%), while approaching two in five staff disagree with this statement (38%).
86