Abstract
BackgroundThere is a growing recognition of the importance of patient experience in healthcare, however little is known in the context of emergency abdominal surgery. This study sought to quantify the association between patient experience and overall satisfaction.MethodsPatient demographics, operation details and 30-day clinical outcome data of consecutive patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery were collected. Data was collected using validated Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) questionnaires. Categorical data were tested using Mann Whitney U test. Multivariable regression was used to determine independent factors associated with satisfaction.ResultsIn a well-fitting multivariable analysis (R2 = 0.71), variables significantly associated with a higher global satisfaction score were “sufficient information given about treatment” (β = 0.86, 95% CI 0.01–1.70, p = 0.047), "sufficient explanation of risks and benefits of surgery" (β = 1.26, 95% CI 0.18–2.34, p = 0.020), “absence of night-time noise” (β = 1.35, 95% CI 0.56–2.14, p = 0.001) and “confidence and trust in nurses” (β = 1.51, 95% CI 0.54–2.49, p = 0.003).ConclusionsOverall patient satisfaction was strongly associated with perceptions of good communication and transfer of information. Confidence and trust in the clinical team is an important determinant of patient experience. Improving the ward environment by reducing noise at night may also improve the overall experience and satisfaction in emergency surgery.
Highlights
There is a growing recognition of the importance of patient experience in healthcare, little is known in the context of emergency abdominal surgery
Ethical approval was sought from the South East Scotland Research Ethics Service, and a waiver obtained to proceed without formal ethical review, as the project was limited to using data obtained as part of usual care relating to the evaluation of service delivery
Study recruitment 97 patients met the inclusion criteria and were followed throughout their admission (Fig. 1). Those who had not been discharged by the end of the data collection period were excluded, giving a total of 87 eligible patients
Summary
There is a growing recognition of the importance of patient experience in healthcare, little is known in the context of emergency abdominal surgery. In addition to its intrinsic ethical value, good patient experience has been consistently positively associated with patient safety and clinical effectiveness across a wide range of disease areas, study design settings, population groups and outcome measures [2]. Both the 2008 report “High Quality Care For All” [3] and the 2010 White Paper "Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS" [4] have enshrined good patient experience as a cornerstone of good clinical care and a central goal for the NHS. Very little research has been done looking at experiences of patients undergoing emergency surgery
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