AIREDALE Hospital has welcomed the outcome of a 2014 national accident and emergency (A&E) survey published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) this week.

The independent survey asked the views of patients, aged 16 years and over, who went to Airedale Hospital’s A&E department during March 2014. Patients were asked what they thought about different aspects of the care and treatment they received.

An Airedale spokesman said: "A number of positive findings were highlighted in the survey including an overall satisfaction with the length of time patients’ visits to the A&E department lasted and the patients' view that doctors and nurses did not talk to each other as if the they were not there.

"The report also showed that patients said they received the results of their tests before leaving the A&E department, and that staff explained the results of the tests in a way they could understand."

The detailed survey asked patients questions such as how involved they were in decisions relating to their care, whether they thought the A&E department was clean and whether they received requested pain relief fast enough.

Rob Dearden, director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust responded: “We are pleased that patients using our accident and emergency department continue to rate us highly, especially as the survey was undertaken whilst the department was in temporary accommodation.

“Even though we have been in the temporary area for the last twelve months we have still treated 95 per cent of patients coming to A&E within four hours.

“The areas highlighted for improvement are in the main connected to the environment and facilities, for example, not having enough privacy when discussing their condition with reception staff.

"We hope our new Emergency Department will make a huge difference to our patients’ experience.”

This is the fifth national survey of its kind. It was carried out with the aim of helping hospitals understand what people attending their A&E departments thought about their care to help trusts improve their performance.

The survey involved 142 acute and specialist NHS trusts with major accident and emergency departments in England and received almost 40,000 responses.