Dignity in hospital care
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Older adults who had been inpatients in the Bristol Royal Infirmary (part of the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust) or at Southmead Hospital (part of North Bristol Trust) between 2020-2022 provided qualitative feedback to help Healthwatch BNSSG understand their perceptions and expectations. They engaged with twenty-four ethnically diverse individuals via older adults' support groups and community organisations across the city.
Healthwatch BNSSG did this through Healthwatch Bristol’s existing networks, social media channels, and those of a wide number of local community and voluntary organisations.
To gather views on Dignity in Hospital Care they conducted telephone, Zoom and face-to-face interviews, and ran a focus group. They heard from hospital staff members via an online survey. Analysis of all participant feedback revealed common perceptions of dignity:
- Respect
- Privacy
- Personalised care
- Communication between staff and patients
- Choice
- Independence
- Supportive care
The focus group participants highlighted what aspects of communication between staff and patients were most important to them. This included communication about:
- patients’ diagnosis
- medical care procedures
- physical care personal care in hospital
- not being talked about by staff in earshot of a patient
- timeliness of communication between staff and patients about what ward they were in and what ward they were being moved to
- timeliness of communication about hospital discharge
- communication about aftercare with patients and their families and carers