While the majority of patients who attended public hospitals in 2021 rated their care as “good” or “very good”, long waiting times in emergency departments (EDs) continue to be a major issue, the 2021 National Inpatient Experience Survey has found.

The National Inpatient Experience Survey is a nationwide survey that offers patients the opportunity to describe their experiences of public acute healthcare in Ireland. It has been running annually since 2017, except for 2020 when it was cancelled as a result of the Covid pandemic.

Almost 10,500 patients who attended 40 hospitals nationwide took part last year, with the highest proportion of respondents – 39% - belonging to the 66-80 age group.

Some 78% of respondents were admitted to hospital via the ED, while just 22% were non-emergency admissions.

While over 80% of patients said they were always treated with respect and dignity in the ED, just 29% were admitted to a ward within the HSE’s target. This target states that 95% of patients should be admitted or discharged within six hours.

Some 36% were left waiting 12 or more hours, while 4% were left waiting at least 48 hours before being admitted.

Younger patients tended to be left waiting longer than older patients. Around 31% of those aged over 65 were admitted within six hours, compared to 19% of those aged between 16 and 35.

One respondent described the waiting time as “ridiculous”, adding that “all the people lying on trolleys is shocking”.

The hospital most successful at admitting ED patients within six hours was St Michael’s Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, with 60% of its patients admitted during this timeframe. At the bottom of the list was Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, which only managed to admit 21% of its patients within this timeframe.

When it came to care on the ward, 76% of patients said that their surroundings were very clean and most said they were given enough privacy. However, hospital food was not rated highly and 22% said they could not find any staff to talk to about their worries and fears.

Furthermore, while 86% said they were always given enough privacy when being examined or treated on the ward, 10% said they did not have enough time to discuss their care and treatment with a doctor.

Meanwhile, at the time of discharge, 36% of patients who received medication said that they were not informed about the side-effects to watch out for when they went home. In fact, this was the lowest rated stage of care, with many patients stating that they were not given enough information on danger signals to watch out for after they went home.

As a result of the pandemic, new questions were added to the 2021 survey. They revealed that 68% of patients did not feel they were at risk of catching Covid-19 while in hospital, however 9% said that they definitely felt at risk.

Some 60% said they were always able to understand staff when they were wearing face masks and visors. However, 23% who needed help to keep in touch with loved ones said they did not receive it and 12% said they could not find a member of staff to talk to if they had worries or fears about Covid.

The survey is a joint initiative by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the HSE and the Department of Health. The results can be viewed in full here.