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Patient satisfaction in New Zealand's public hospitals has reached near record levels, but emergency department waiting times have room to improve, a Government report shows.
The Ministry of Health's latest Hospital Benchmark Information quarterly report shows overall patient satisfaction levels were the second highest since reports began in 2000 , with a level of 88.5 per cent for the October to December, 2007, quarter.
The results show an improvement from the previous quarter, when overall patient satisfaction sat at 87.7 per cent.
Chief Clinical Advisor Sandy Dawson said most patients received excellent care.
"The vast majority of patients are clearly satisfied with their encounter with the public health system ," she said.
Another aspect of the report examined triage rates, measuring emergency department waiting times .
All 22 District Health Boards met the target for treating triage patients categorised as most urgent, which expects all Triage 1 patients to be treated immediately.
However, less than half of DHBs met the target for Triage 2, which expects 80 per cent of patients to be seen within 10 minutes, with only eight reaching the set level.
The target for Triage 3 patients, to see 75 per cent of patients within 30 minutes, was fulfilled by even less, with just seven DHBs making the mark.
Dr Dawson said the reports helped hospitals measure their performance against one another and look for ways to improve .
- NZPA
