Patients love hospital staff, want more of them

Surveys show patients' likes and dislikes at Campbellford Memorial

Patients at Campbellford Memorial Hospital from 2017 until 2021 liked the nurses and doctors, but wished there were more of them because they didn’t like the long waits for service, say surveys released to a team of investigative journalists.

In all, 46.5 per cent of the comments were positive, while 32.6 per cent were negative, and 20 per cent were neutral.

Overall, the comments were positive about the staff and their treatment, and the negative comments focused on the need for more staff and doctors, particularly in the emergency department. This will be no surprise to anyone who has seen the frequent notices from the hospital in recent months that its emergency department was swamped.

In total, 68.8 per cent of those surveyed rated the helpfulness of the hospital a nine or 10 out of 10, which was significantly below the average of other hospitals. As well, 52.6 per cent rated the hospital a nine or 10, also below average.

The news was better for the emergency department: 56.6 per cent rated it a nine or 10, significantly above average. The other comparison made was asking whether patients “definitely” would recommend the ER to friends and family: 62.4 per cent said yes, which was about average for all hospitals.

“You need more nurses,” one person wrote.  “This hospital needs more staff,” said another. “The staff there was excellent. There needs to be more staff so that folks are not waiting 8 hrs to be seen. Food needs to be given to those there for 8 hours!!!,” said another.

“The hospital is grungy and needs cleaning and an upgrade, refurbishing,” one person said. They might be happier if they came back now, there has been a lot of painting and cleaning over the past year.

“Need more doctors,” was a common comment.

The most puzzling comment, which could lead to a lot of speculation about the problem this patient faced, was: “Need a ring cutter.”

The hospital was built in 1953, a second floor was added in 1970, and a new emergency department in 1987. The hospital board has been pressuring the province for several years to construct a new, larger facility, but so far has been ignored. It has obtained land on the western edge of town that it hopes will be used for a new campus of care that will include a hospital, long-term care facility and other medical professionals. But so far the province has refused to provide funding for detailed planning, let alone give the go ahead for a new building.

Last year, the CEO warned it would cost millions just for repairs and upgrades to keep the current facility operating safely.

The patient surveys were done as part of legislatively mandated system designed to identify problems and help hospitals hold themselves accountable. The Toronto Star and the Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto waged a lengthy freedom-of-information battle to obtain up to six years’ worth of survey data from more than 50 hospitals and health networks, including Campbellford Memorial.

The information, which is available here, does not identify any individual patients or staff. It provides some general comparisons between hospitals and hundreds of individual comments.

On Dec. 6 the provincial auditor general released a scathing report that found staff shortages, spiking wait times for care, and policy gaps are contributing to “delayed or missed diagnoses” in Ontario’s emergency departments — and leaving patients in “worse health.”

The Star reported that the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) says the patient surveys are important for improving the quality of care. Paid for with the public purse at a cost the OHA repeatedly refused to disclose, the surveys were administered by the U.S. research firm NRC Health.

NRC Health organized the results to allow hospital officials to compare their numbers with other hospitals and flag areas that need attention. These “benchmark” reports were typically sent to hospitals on a quarterly basis.

The OHA contract with NRC Health ended last year, raising questions about the future of patient-experience surveys in Ontario. While the OHA is recommending that hospitals use the survey tool of a new research firm, hospitals can do their own surveys. Hospitals that use standardized surveys on the new tool and send their data to the OHA will be able to benchmark their performance.

“Ontario hospitals support the public reporting of patient experience data because they believe in transparency and accountability to the patients they serve,” the OHA told The Star. “Planning for public reporting in the future is under discussion.”

A few of the other comments:

“After 3  days in the hospital, I had to ask a nurse on first floor to boil hot water so I can wash myself, to freshen up after being in my same clothes for 3 days. they need to fix the hot water tank.”

“They need reliable hot water. No hot water for 3 days during cold snap.” It’s not clear whether those people were patients at the same time, let’s hope so.

“The hospital feels and smells like a nursing home. It is unfortunate that it takes as long for nurses to respond to the call button. There was so many elderly people in hospital when I was there, and when they pressed the call button because they needed help to go to the bathroom, they never got any help in time.”

One unhappy patient said: “Like all hospitals and nursing homes the housekeeping staff need a wake up call, or maybe better managers.”

Another felt sorry for the nurses: “I think from my experience, there is a lack of nurses. Need more, they are worked too hard.”

“Felt I was a bother to them, because I wasn't seen enough need more staffing, they are very busy.”

“Triage nurse gave me the eye roll ‘you've got to be kidding me, you came here for that’ look. No verbal comment, just a look.”

Let’s end on an upbeat note with a few of the positive comments:

“All of the staff at this hospital were of great help to me. Thanks to all.”

“All staff at CM hospital are very good. Very grateful for our hospital.”

“All staff were caring, compassionate and professional! - all my questions were answered completely and I left emerg feeling less concerned about my condition!”