PATIENT satisfaction with care and services at Western Health’s Williamstown, Sunshine and Footscray hospitals has improved marginally, although they have the lowest rating of the state’s large metropolitan hospitals.
Annual voluntary surveys ask patients to rate their time in hospital on services such as admission, care provided by doctors and nurses, complaints management, meals, physical environment, and discharge and follow-up. More than 28,000 surveys were completed by patients across Victoria in 2010-11.
The survey rates hospital satisfaction out of 100, from “poor” (20-40 out of 100), “fair” (41-60 out of 100), “good” (61-80) and “very good” (80-100).
Footscray hospital rated 70.4 out of 100, up from 69.4 the previous year.
Sunshine improved from 68.3 to 69.1 and Williamstown climbed from 76 to 78.
Western Health’s Sunshine and Footscray hospitals serve the rapidly growing outer west, which has high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes. There were 62,837 patient visits to Sunshine hospital’s emergency department in the 12 months to last June. About 4400 babies were born at the hospital in the same period – or 434 births per labour-ward bed.
WH has previously stated the hospitals in the west meet only 50-60per cent of the needs of the population, and residents are frequently required to travel outside the area for their health care.
The report noted that areas for improvement included “quality of food, storage facilities, waiting room comfort, restfulness of the hospital, and temperature of meals.”
Western Health chief executive Kathryn Cook welcomed the patient satisfaction report. “We continually identify ways to improve our service and better meet the needs of patients in Melbourne’s west. Patient feedback is an important tool in enabling us to understand how we can improve the quality of our service.”
