Urgent and emergency care survey 2022

Page last updated: 8 August 2023
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This survey looks at the experiences of people using type 1 and type 3 urgent and emergency care services.

Two questionnaires were used, tailored to each service type. Results are reported for each service type at trust and overall England level.

  • Type 1 services include A&E departments, and may also be known as casualty or emergency departments.
  • Type 3 services include urgent treatment centres, and may also be known as minor injury units. The survey only includes services directly run by an acute NHS trust.

The 2022 urgent and emergency care survey received feedback from 29,357 people who attended a type 1 service in September 2022 and 7,418 people who attended a Type 3 service in September 2022.

What we found

People’s experiences of urgent and emergency care are worse than in previous years. This applies more so to results for Type 1 services, where results have declined for all questions evaluating care. For some aspects of care in Type 3 services, results have remained positive, such as being listened to by health professionals.

Positive results

Interactions with staff

  • 84% of patients who used Type 3 services said health professionals ‘definitely’ listened to what they had to say.
  • 80% of Type 3 patients ‘definitely’ had enough time to discuss their condition with a health professional, although lower than 85% in 2020.
  • 79% of Type 3 patients ‘definitely’ had confidence and trusts in health professionals, although lower than 82% in 2020.

Privacy

  • 88% of Type 3 patients said they were ‘definitely’ given enough privacy when being examined and treated, although lower than 91% in 2020.

Key areas for improvement

Waiting times

  • Patients experienced longer waiting times than previous years, with 17% of Type 1 patients waiting more than 4 hours to be examined compared with 4% in 2020.
  • 15% of Type 3 patients with an appointment waited more than 2 hours to be examined (5% in 2020) and 18% without an appointment (7% in 2020).
  • 76% of Type 1 patients and 66% of Type 3 patients were not told how long their wait would be.
  • Similarly, 82% of Type 1 patients and 79% of Type 3 patients were not kept updated on how long their wait would be.

Availability of staff

  • While they were waiting to be treated or examined, 56% of Type 1 patients who reported that they needed help said that they were unable to get help with their condition or symptoms from a member of staff, compared with 45% in 2020.
  • Later, during their care or treatment, 45% of Type 1 patients that reported needing attention said that they were ‘always’ able to get a member of medical or nursing staff to help them, compared with 58% in 2020.

Privacy

  • 45% of Type 1 patients and 49% of Type 3 patients ‘definitely’ had enough privacy when discussing their condition with the receptionist, compared with 55% and 59% for Type 1 and Type 3 services in 2020.
  • 78% of Type 1 patients said they were ‘definitely’ given enough privacy when being examined and treated, compared with 84% in 2020.

Meeting individual needs

  • Of those patients who had communication needs (language needs or communication needs related to a disability, sensory loss or impairment), 53% of Type 1 and 69% of Type 3 respondents said staff ‘definitely’ helped with their needs. Twenty-seven percent of Type 1 patients and 20% of Type 3 patients said staff did not help them.

Pain management

  • 51% and 58% of Type 1 and Type 3 patients respectively said staff ‘definitely’ did everything they could to help control their pain. This compares with 60% and 63% for Type 1 and Type 3 services in 2020.

Interactions with staff

  • 71% of Type 1 patients ‘definitely’ had confidence and trust in staff examining and treating them, compared with 77% in 2020.
  • 72% of Type 1 patients felt they were treated with dignity and respect ‘all of the time’, compared with 81% in 2020.

Information given before discharge

  • 46% of Type 1 patients said that a member of staff ‘completely’ told them about what symptoms to watch for regarding their illness or treatment when they went home, compared with 53% in 2020.
  • 51% of Type 1 and 65% of Type 3 patients were ‘definitely’ given enough information to care for their condition at home. This compares with 60% and 70% for Type 1 and Type 3 services in 2020.

How experience varies for different groups of people

Younger people, people whose attendance lasted more than four hours, people identified as frail, disabled people and people who had recently visited the same A&E consistently reported poorer experiences of Type 1 services.

For Type 3 services, people whose attendance lasted more than four hours reported poorer experiences.

Results for NHS trusts

Type 1 survey results by NHS trust

Type 3 survey results by NHS trust

Each trust was provided with a benchmark report for type 1 services, and type 3 services where relevant, which provides more detail about the data.

Reports

Open data

Supporting information

Results from previous surveys

How will results be used?

We will use the results from the survey to build an understanding of the risk and quality of services and those who organise care across an area. Where survey findings provide evidence of a change to the level of risk or quality in a service, provider or system, we use the results alongside other sources of people’s experience data to inform targeted assessment activities.

Other organisations

NHS trusts

Trusts, and those who commission services, use the results to identify and make the changes they need to improve the experience of people who use their services.

NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care

Information collected nationally in a consistent way is essential to support public and Parliamentary accountability. The results are used by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care for performance assessment, improvement and regulatory purposes.