We use surveys to find out what people think of the NHS healthcare services that they use.

The results help assess NHS performance. We also use them for regulatory activities such as registration, monitoring ongoing compliance and reviews.

You can find out about our most recently published surveys below.

Adult inpatient survey 2019

Published: July 2020

This survey looked at the experiences of 76,915 people who were discharged from an NHS acute hospital in July 2019.

Overall, people were most positive about being treated with dignity and respect while in hospital.

Frail patients reported worse experiences with regard to ensuring they are supported after leaving hospital.

Results show signs of improvement or sustained good performance across themes, such as communication around operations and meeting fundamental needs.

People with dementia or Alzheimer’s and those with mental and behavioural disorders reported consistently poorer experiences.

Maternity services survey 2019

Published: January 2020

This survey looked at the experiences of women who had a live birth in early 2019. We found that:

Interaction with staff has improved over time; women are feeling listened to by midwives and that their concerns are taken seriously

Most women feel that staff respect their feeding choices, and reported higher levels of active support in feeding their baby

There remains scope for improvement in postnatal care as women consistently report poorer experience than for the care they received during pregnancy and labour

The quality of information around changes to mental health could be improved

Community mental health survey 2019

Published: November 2019

This survey looked at the experiences of people receiving community mental health services in 2019.

Experiences of being supported with physical health needs and financial advice or benefits declined further this year.

There remains significant scope for improvement for involving people in planning and agreeing the care they receive.

Many people did not know who to contact within the NHS during a crisis.

Those aged 18-35 or diagnosed with non-psychotic chaotic and challenging disorder consistently reported worse than average experiences.

Children and young people's survey 2018

Published: November 2019

This survey looks at the experiences of children, young people and their parents and carers attending hospital.

Overall, children, young people and their parents or carers reported good experiences of care.

The majority of children and young people were positive about communication with hospital staff.

Children, young people, and their parents were less positive about their, or their child’s, experiences of being discharged from hospital.

A small proportion (1%) of children and young people spent most of their hospital stay on an adult ward.

Urgent and emergency care survey 2018

Published: October 2019

This survey collected information on the experiences of more than 50,000 people who received care from urgent and emergency care services in September 2018.

The majority of people were positive about most aspects of the urgent or emergency care they received.

People were positive when answering questions about their interactions with staff.

Some people felt that staff could do more to help control their pain.

Information provision when leaving A&E or the urgent care centre remains a problem for many patients.

Trends in the Adult Inpatient Survey 2005-2014

Published: November 2015

This analysis looks at the experiences of people receiving adult inpatient services over a ten year period.

Patients’ experiences of care have generally been good.

Most areas we ask patients about have seen little meaningful change or improvement.

Patients report substantial improvements in areas such as cleanliness and mixed sex accommodation.

There have been areas of deterioration, for example in waiting times.

Ambulance survey of Hear and Treat callers 2013/14

Published: 2014

This survey looked at the experiences of over 2,900 people who called an ambulance service in December 2013 and January 2014.

Most people were positive, but some did not understand or agree with the advice given at the end of the call.

Overall, callers were more likely to agree with the decision to not send an ambulance if they had received a full explanation of the reasons.

Outpatient survey 2011

This survey collected patients' experiences of their most recent visit to an outpatient department.

More people felt that they were treated with respect and dignity.

Staff need to improve the way they provide information to patients.