Surveys

We use surveys to find out what people think of the NHS healthcare services that they use.

The results help assess NHS performance. We also use them for regulatory activities such as registration, monitoring ongoing compliance and reviews.

Recent surveys

Urgent and emergency care survey 2024

Published: November 2024

This survey collected information on the experiences of people who received care from urgent and emergency care services.

We found that:

• A&E and urgent treatment centre patients are experiencing long waits for initial assessment.  Nearly half of A&E patients and over half of urgent treatment centre patients were not able to get help with their condition or symptoms while they waited.
• Nearly two-thirds of A&E patients are waiting over 4 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged. These patients received worse than average care for all areas included in the analysis.
• During their visit, around a quarter of A&E and urgent treatment centre patients reported not being helped to control their pain.
• Some A&E and urgent treatment centre patients who needed further health and social care said this was not discussed before leaving. Of those that did, over 1 in 5 said the services were no available when needed.

Adult inpatient survey 2023

Published: August 2024

This survey looks at the experiences of people who stayed at least one night in hospital as an inpatient.

We found that:

• People’s experiences of inpatient care remain generally consistent with 2022, while remaining poorer than in 2020.
• Most patients reported positive interactions with doctors and nurses, and felt they were treated with both respect and dignity, and with kindness and compassion.
• People’s experiences of waiting times continue to decline compared to previous years.
• Patients feel less involved in decisions about being discharged from hospital, and less certain about their care once they leave.

Community mental health survey 2023

Published: April 2024

This survey looked at the experiences of people receiving community mental health services in 2023.

We found that:

• Many people thought they waited to long for their first appointment and reported that their mental health got worse while they waited for treatment.
• Many people were not always given the help they needed the last time they saw someone, or given enough time to discuss their needs and treatment.
• Results from the survey of people using Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) indicated especially poor levels of treatment and care across most areas.
• Disabled users of services were more likely to report negative experiences for the majority of questions analysed.

Maternity survey 2023

Published: February 2024

This survey looked at the experiences of women and other pregnant people who had a live birth in early 2023, including ethnic minorities in January and March.

We found that:

• All areas of antenatal care improved from 2022.
• Mental health support has shown improvement during antenatal and postnatal care.
• Availability of staff has worsened in during labour and birth, in hospital after birth and during postnatal care.
• Those who had poor continuity of care, report worse experiences during antenatal care, labour and birth and postnatal care.

Children and young people's survey 2020

Published: December 2021

This survey looks at the experiences of children, young people and their parents and carers attending hospital.

We found that:

• Most children, young people and their parents or carers were positive about their overall hospital experience.
• The majority of children and young people said that staff looked after them well, were friendly, treated them with privacy and listened to what they had to say.
• Children and young people were less positive about their experiences of the hospital food, involvement in decision making and being discharged.
• This year, children, young people and their parents reported that there was less to do in hospital than in previous years.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) inpatient experience survey

Published: November 2020

The survey captured the views of more than 10,000 adults who were discharged from hospital during April and May 2020. We carried it out to gather feedback to help services and local systems plan for and improve future coronavirus care.

Trends in the Adult Inpatient Survey 2005-2014

Published: November 2015

This analysis looks at the experiences of people receiving adult inpatient services over a ten year period.

We found that:

• Patients’ experiences of care have generally been good.
• Most areas we ask patients about have seen little meaningful change or improvement.
• Patients report substantial improvements in areas such as cleanliness and mixed sex accommodation.
• There have been areas of deterioration, for example in waiting times.

Ambulance survey of Hear and Treat callers 2013/14

Published: 2014

This survey looked at the experiences of over 2,900 people who called an ambulance service in December 2013 and January 2014.

We found that:

• Most people were positive, but some did not understand or agree with the advice given at the end of the call.
• Overall, callers were more likely to agree with the decision to not send an ambulance if they had received a full explanation of the reasons.

Outpatient survey 2011

Published: February 2012

This survey collected patients' experiences of their most recent visit to an outpatient department.

We found that:

• More people felt that they were treated with respect and dignity.
• Staff need to improve the way they provide information to patients.