New national surveys of care experience being developed

In 2021, the National Care Experience Programme will run the fourth National Inpatient Experience Survey, and is developing three new national surveys in areas of care including maternity bereavement, end-of-life and nursing homes.

A joint initiative by Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health, the programme seeks to improve the quality of health and social care services in Ireland by asking people about their experiences of care and acting on their feedback.

The fourth National Inpatient Experience Survey will take place in May 2021. People aged 16 and over who spend 24 hours or more in a public hospital and are discharged during the month of May will be invited to participate in the survey.

This year’s survey will ask patients about admission to hospital, the ward environment, care and treatment, discharge from hospital, as well as additional questions about their experiences in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic — such as staff communication while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and contact with family and friends given visitor restrictions.

Later this year, the National Maternity Bereavement Experience Survey will invite parents who have been bereaved by pregnancy and or perinatal loss to share their experiences of care. This survey will learn about parents’ lived experiences of maternity care throughout the duration of their pregnancy, hospital admission, postnatal and follow-up care.

We are also developing two news surveys which will be implemented in 2022.

The National Nursing Home Experience Survey aims to learn from and understand the experiences of people who reside in nursing homes in Ireland. The survey will provide an opportunity to hear the voices of the residents about their experiences of care in Irish nursing homes, identifying areas of good practice and areas needing improvement.

The National End of Life Survey is the first time that a national survey will be carried out on the experience of care at end of life in Ireland. Bereaved relatives, including the closest relatives or friends of those who have died, will be invited to share their experiences of end-of-life care. The survey will include end-of-life care in a number of settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and in their own homes.

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