The latest national Care Quality Commission Emergency Care Patient Survey results show that patients say care at Harrogate District Hospital is better than most other hospitals in response to 10 questions.

When asked to score their overall experience in the Emergency Department, patients who had received care rated the Trust 8.5 out of 10.

Responses to 26 other questions score the department ‘about the same’ as other hospitals.

But the number of people attending the Emergency Department remains at high levels and Harrogate District Hospital clinicians and managers are calling on members of the public to help the Trust continue to perform well by only coming to the Emergency Department when it is a genuine emergency.

Areas where the hospital’s Emergency Department rated better than other trusts included on waiting times, particularly around being informed about how long patients would have to wait, and the overall length of their visit. Patients felt they had enough time to discuss their condition with their doctor or nurse, and that if a family member wanted to speak to a doctor, they had the opportunity to do so.

Patients felt that they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment. They also said that staff members explained why tests were needed in an understandable way, and received test results before they left the department. It was felt by patients that the Emergency Department was an unthreatening space.

Patients said that staff were good at letting them know who to contact if they were worried about their condition or treatment after they’d left the department, and that staff gave them enough information to help them care for their condition at home.

Dr Matt Shepherd, Lead Consultant in the Emergency Department, said: “It’s really pleasing to see what patients think about us and I’m delighted that we continue to perform well as a department. All credit goes to the fantastic Emergency Department team as well as everyone else in the wider hospital and community services who we work closely with to ensure patients receive timely and high quality care.

“Harrogate, like much of the country, has experienced ever-increasing numbers of patients coming to the Emergency Department. Many of the patients we are seeing are very poorly and need admission to hospital.

“However, attendances at the Emergency Department with non-emergency conditions mean longer waits for those patients who really do need care, as well as extra pressure on all our staff. Colleagues are working very hard to cope with the demand but we need local people to help by only coming to the department when it’s an emergency.”

To help the NHS deliver the best possible care to everyone, if you have an illness that is not severe, then please visit www.nhs.uk/111, call NHS 111, contact your own GP or see a local pharmacist for advice before choosing to come to the Emergency Department.

The full results for the Trust can be viewed here:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RCD/survey/4

Responses were received from 379 patients, which is a response rate of 41 per cent of everyone invited to respond.