81% of local people are happy with the service they get from their local NHS, whilst 38% believe that local NHS services will improve over the next few years.
Those are some of the findings of a poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the NHS, to find out what people living in the area served by NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald (comprising Eastbourne Borough and Lewes and Wealden Districts) think about local health services.
Ipsos MORI asked a sample of 250 local people for their views, among a wider survey across the NHS South East Coast region, and the results show that:
• Four in five (81%) East Sussex Downs and Weald residents agree that their local NHS provides them with a good service
• Almost four in ten (38%) residents expect the health services in their area to improve over the next few years, a significant increase since 2008 when the figure was 23%.
• For 8 of the 11 services covered in the survey, a majority of residents (over 50%) express satisfaction.
The survey also found that:
87% of people were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with their local doctor or GP practice, whilst 56% felt the same way about local NHS dentists
The top 3 health issues that East Sussex Downs and Weald residents believe require a fair amount or a lot of improvement are:
• The organisation of hospitals so that sleeping areas and bathroom facilities are not shared by men and women– 50%;
• Cleanliness of hospitals – 46%;
• Time spent waiting in accident and emergency (A&E) departments – 44%.
Mike Wood, Chief Executive of NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald says:
“These survey results are really encouraging as they show a rise both in the number of people who are satisfied with the NHS in our area, as well as those who believe that NHS services will improve in the future.
We will use the findings of this poll to help strengthen the work already underway to tackle the issues which people have flagged up as needing particular attention.
For example one of our main focuses is on eliminating mixed sex accommodation, with East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust investing over £650,000 worth of funding into making further improvements.
The Trust has also recently invested over £100,000 in a state of the art hydrogen peroxide cleaning system to help the continuing drive for improved infection control.
We will also work to further improve in areas where we are already performing well.”
