PATIENTS have given the thumbs up to Foster’s South Gippsland Hospital in the latest government survey into patient satisfaction in Victorian hospitals.
South Gippsland Hospital’s score of 88.5 out of 100 in the Victorian Patient Satisfaction Monitor Annual Report for July 2011 to June 2012 was the best in Gippsland and among the top in the state.
The Victorian Patient Satisfaction Monitor rates hospital satisfaction out of 100, with 20-40 regarded as ‘poor to fair,’ 41-60 as ‘fair to good,’ 61-80 as ‘good to very good’ and 81-100 as ‘very good to excellent.’
Minister for Health David Davis said there had been some excellent results across the state.
“For the second year running, Victorian public hospitals have recorded significant increases in patient satisfaction, with patients consistently rating their hospital experience between ‘good’ and ‘excellent’, and more than half of our hospitals achieving a ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’ rating,” he said.
“Most importantly, no Victorian hospital showed a statistically significant decrease in patient satisfaction in 2011-2012 and no hospital received a ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ rating.
“These results, direct from patients, are testament to our dedicated doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who can be truly proud of the difference they make to lives of Victorian patients each and every day.”
South Gippsland Hospital CEO Peter Rushen said he was thrilled but not surprised by the result for the local hospital.
“We pride ourselves on the high level of patient care at South Gippsland Hospital and it is a credit to all staff that their efforts have been recognised,” he said.
“The delivery of an excellent patient experience is a team effort from everyone at SGH including medical staff through to cleaning and food services staff.”
“The Victorian Patient Monitor provides us with regular feedback on inpatients’ experience while in our hospital and their feedback provides an opportunity for continuous improvement,” he added.
Mr Davis said that in the voluntary survey, which this year for the first time includes input from patients visiting emergency departments, patients can highlight the positives about public hospitals and point out areas for improvement.
“The feedback assists our hospitals to provide even better care by learning directly from patients on how to improve service quality,” he said.
“Based on the survey, the areas with the highest level of satisfaction were the courtesy of nurses and doctors, being treated with respect, personal safety and helpfulness of staff.
“Areas for improvement included quality of food, storage facilities, waiting room comfort, explanation of hospital procedures and restfulness of the hospital.”
Mr Davis said input from 4580 visitors to emergency departments found that most were satisfied with the level of privacy, care and safety.
Waiting for treatment and comfort and a lack of facilities were areas needing improvement, according to the survey.
However, 90 per cent of respondents said, if given a choice, they would return to the same emergency department in future if they had a serious illness or injury.
Hospitals with the highest scores were Yea and District Memorial Hospital (90.9), Lorne Community Hospital (90.5), Casterton Memorial Hospital (89.9), Cohuna District Hospital (89.6) and South Gippsland Hospital (88.5).
Other top performers, with less than 30 patient respondents, were Beaufort and Skipton Health Service and Otway Health and Community Services which both scored 90.0.
Around Gippsland, the scores were as follows: South Gippsland Hospital 88.5, Gippsland Southern (Leongatha and Korumburra campuses) 81.5, Yarram 82.2, Bass Coast 81.2, Latrobe Regional 75.7, West Gippsland 80.6, Central Gippsland (Sale and Maffra) 81.4, Koo Wee Rup 85.4, Bairnsdale 79.0 and Orbost 87.7.
In 2011/12, 29,050 surveys in the VPSM were received from patients across Victoria.
The report is available at www.health.vic.gov.au/patsat/reports.htm
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