Patient experience at Milton Keynes University Hospital A&E has got worse according to new survey

Patient experience at Milton Keynes University Hospital A&E worsened last year, new survey data suggests.

Hospital regulator, the Care Quality Commission, which carried out the survey, said the long-term worsening of patient experience in NHS emergency care cannot be ignored.

The 228 respondents in Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust gave the hospital emergency department an average of 7.7 out of 10 for overall experience in 2022.

It is down from a score of 8.1 out of 10 in 2020.

Nationally, 18% of respondents gave a score of four or lower, a leap from 8% two years prior.

High call volumes, staff shortages in NHS 111 and lack of available GP and dental appointments wee said to cause delays in people receiving medical advice and more people going to A&E.

The survey also shows the proportion of people feeling they were treated with respect and dignity in hospitals declined from 81% in 2020 to 72% last year.

Patients gave Milton Keynes University Hospital a grade of 9 out of 10 on this – in line with the previous survey.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: "Every clinician wants to provide the best care possible. No one wants patients to have to wait excessive amounts of time to be treated, or for that treatment to be administered in an environment – such as a corridor – which lacks privacy."

Dr Sean O’Kelly, the CQC’s chief inspector of healthcare, said staff are working extremely hard amid challenging circumstances.

However, he added: "We cannot afford to ignore the long-term decline shown in relation to issues like waiting times, information provided when people leave to go home, access to pain relief and emotional support."

The proportion of patients across England who said they waited longer than four hours in A&E last year more than quadrupled to 17%.

In Milton Keynes patients gave a score of 5.3 out of 10 regarding the length of time they waited to be examined – a fall from 6.3 two years earlier.

An NHS spokeswoman said staff have delivered significant improvements since the survey was carried out, with faster ambulance response times and a greater number of patients being seen in A&E within four hours in June.

She added: "This is despite unprecedented levels of demand, pressures on patient flow and industrial action."

She said the findings also demonstrate how patients value the "hard work and care from staff".

A spokesman for MK University Hospital said: "We see and treat hundreds of patients in our emergency department every day and collect daily feedback on where we can improve, as well as what we do well.

“We want everyone to have a positive experience of our emergency department. In the years between the 2020 and 2022 surveys, we have been through a pandemic and seen demand for emergency care increase - this year we again broke previous records, seeing 472 people attend the emergency department in a single day.

"We have a patient experience improvement plan that the results of the 2022 survey form part of, and this will be published, with patients and local people invited to contribute views, ideas and suggestions."