More than 120,000 children and young people and their parents and carers are expected to have responded by the end of April to the first nationwide survey of its kind. Questionnaires by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) cover treatment for both inpatients and outpatients, under topics such as access and waiting times, the quality of information and choice provided and the cleanliness and comfort of wards.
There are two questionnaires - one for patients aged nought to 11, which are filled in by their parent or guardian, and the other for patients aged 12 to 17. As well as seeking views on the child's admission to hospital, the questions cover facilities, from the cleanliness of the hospital's toilets and bathrooms, and whether the ward looked 'nicely decorated', to whether there were enough toys or entertainment facilities on the ward and if the young patient was given a chance to see a 'play leader'.
Jocelyn Cornwell, CHI's acting chief executive, said, 'Hospitals need to know what parents and young people feel about the care they receive.
Getting feedback from young people and their carers, and taking account of their views and priorities, is vital for bringing improvements in the quality of care provided by the NHS.'
Peg Belson, one of the founder members of the charity Action for Sick Children, which has carried out surveys of NHS facilities for children for more than 40 years, and who has undertaken research into the care of children in hospital, welcomed the survey. She said, 'I am very pleased to see that the NHS is taking the views of children and parents. I hope it leads to improved facilities for children in hospital as well as a greater recognition of the vital role of hospital play specialists.'
Mrs Belson said she hoped it would take account of the differences between a child coming to a hospital's A&E department as the result of an accident, and being an outpatient or admitted to a ward for an operation. 'The majority of children's first experience of hospital is the A&E department.
In any year, 30 per cent of patients in A&E are children, many of whom are traumatised because of being in an accident. This is a very different situation to being an outpatient or a ward case,' she added.
CHI expects to publish the survey results by the summer.
