Patients rank Western Sydney hospitals as worst in state

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Two Western Sydney hospitals have been ranked by patients as among the worst in the state for care. While most hospitals were given a gold star in a survey of more than 25,000 public hospital patients, Blacktown and Liverpool hospitals ranked well below average on multiple measures. Patients have branded them dirty and disorganised, and the health minister has conceded they need to do better.

Transcript

00:00It's a poor report card that doesn't surprise the locals.

00:06Blacktown is one of two Sydney hospitals ranked by patients as the worst in the state.

00:11It does worry me, like, a hospital is like, you know, a kind of safe haven for people

00:15and the fact that it's ranking so low, that is pretty scary.

00:19I'm not surprised, because they are understaffed.

00:22Like, personally I've had good experiences with Blacktown Hospital,

00:25but I've heard some horror stories.

00:27Their waiting times are bad. Most people are always asleep on the floor.

00:31The Bureau of Health Information patient survey shows

00:34only 54% of those who'd been treated at Blacktown

00:37rated their overall care as very good,

00:40while at Liverpool Hospital only 51% of patients said the same,

00:44both well below the statewide average of 67%.

00:48Those two hospitals were also least likely to be regarded

00:51as very well organised or very clean.

00:54Chris Minns always talks about equity and equality and fairness.

00:59Clearly Western Sydney is missing out when you look at these statistics.

01:02We know we need to do better.

01:04Those hospitals, particularly Blacktown and Liverpool,

01:07face significant stress because of the growth in populations

01:11across south-west and north-western Sydney.

01:14That's a fact, that's a challenge.

01:16There were plenty of bright spots in the survey.

01:18Overall, more than nine out of ten patients around the state

01:21rated their care as either good or very good.

01:24And it wasn't all bad news for Western Sydney,

01:27with Mount Druitt rated the best Sydney hospital for overall care,

01:30followed by St Vincent's in Darlinghurst and Hornsby Hospital.

01:34One of the biggest drops in patient satisfaction in this survey

01:37related to hospital food.

01:39And it's this hospital, Royal North Shore,

01:41which patients ranked the worst in the state.

01:44Only 13% rated their meals here as very good.

01:48Food for thought for those trying to improve the system.

01:51It's a lot of different hopelessness in the state ...

01:52Like your GP who you have in an experience of sometimes

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