Patient experience: do patients have confidence and trust in clinicians? (2024)

Background

Trust and confidence are key components of the clinician-patient relationship. There are many benefits that can accrue from a trusting relationship, including open communication of information, improved adherence to medical advice, improvement of health outcomes and better patient experience.

The national patient experience surveys ask service users whether they have confidence and trust in the doctors, nurses and other clinicians treating them, the results of which we explore here.

Several national patient surveys ask service users whether they have confidence and trust in clinicians. It is useful to compare people's responses to understand how patient experience varies across NHS services.

In 2020, 84% of parents with children aged 15 or under who had been admitted to hospital had the most favourable response and stated in the Children and Young People’s Survey that they always had confidence and trust in the member of staff treating their child. 81% of the 2022 Adult Inpatient Survey respondents said that they always had confidence and trust in the doctor treating them.

78% of Maternity Services Survey respondents in 2022 reported that they definitely had confidence and trust in the staff caring for them during their labour and birth. 71% of the 2022 Urgent and Emergency Care Survey respondents who had attended a type 1 department said that they definitely had confidence and trust in the doctors and nurses examining and treating them. Lastly, 64% of 2023 GP Patient Survey respondents stated that they definitely had confidence in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to.

The differences in responses between the surveys may reflect the demographics of respondents, as well as their experience of services. For example, older people tend to respond more positively in surveys, and a higher proportion of inpatients are in older age groups compared with maternity service users. Additionally, while the most recent results for each survey are presented here, they were carried out at different times, with fieldwork for some taking place before the pandemic and some either during or after the pandemic.

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How has inpatients’ confidence and trust in the doctors treating them changed over time?

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  • 14/12/2023

Adult Inpatient Survey respondents are asked, ‘Did you have confidence and trust in the doctors treating you?’ Between 2009 and 2019, answers to this question remained largely stable. The proportion of respondents who ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them remained between 77% and 80%, and those who did not have confidence and trust fluctuated around 4%.

In 2020, 84% of respondents ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them, while 3% did not. By 2022, the proportion of respondents that ‘always’ had confidence and trust had decreased to 81%. A slightly higher record of confidence and trust in 2020 could have been due to factors related to the onset of the pandemic. These results are not comparable with the years preceding 2020 due to changes in the survey. See ‘About this data’ for more information.

The survey also asks about confidence and trust in nurses. The proportion of respondents who ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them is consistently slightly higher than the proportion who ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the nurses treating them (data not shown).

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How has patients’ confidence and trust in healthcare professionals in general practice changed over time?

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  • 14/12/2023

GP Patient Survey respondents are asked, ‘During your last general practice appointment, did you have confidence and trust in the healthcare professional you saw or spoke to?’ The proportion of patients who ‘definitely’ had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to decreased from 69% in 2018 to 64% in 2023. The proportion who did not have confidence and trust increased from 4% to 7% between 2018 and 2023. Previous research has shown that one of the factors affecting trust in physicians is patients being given a choice of which physician they want to see. The decline in patient confidence and trust could be partly related to the decline in patients being able to see or speak to their preferred GP.

About this data

These indicators draw on data from the Adult Inpatient Survey, the GP Patient Survey, the Children and Young People's Survey, the Emergency Department Survey and the Maternity Services Survey.

For each Care Quality Commission survey, two weights have been applied to the survey results data:

  • a trust weight to ensure that each trust contributes equally to the England average, and
  • a population weight, to make sure each trust’s results are representative of their own sample and do not over-represent particular groups, such as older respondents.

A combination of the two weights results in one single weighting which has been applied to enable comparisons between years.

The GP Patient Survey data was weighted to adjust for the differences between all patients at a GP practice and the subset of patients who actually completed the questionnaire. For more detailed information, please see the GP Patient Survey - Technical Annex.

In 2020, fieldwork took place between 2 January and 6 April. This means that some responses were collected after the Covid-19 pandemic began in England. Analysis was conducted to understand whether the pandemic had an impact on results and found that only 1.2% of responses were received after lockdown measures were implemented. Thus, the results of the survey and validity of comparisons with previous surveys were not impacted by the pandemic.

For the 2020 Adult Inpatient Survey, participants were offered the choice of responding online or via paper-based questionnaires for the first time, and the questions, terminology and methodology used in the survey were updated. Therefore, the 2020 survey results are not comparable with previous years.

Note that data from the most recent survey publications were used for comparison. Our comparison across NHS services did not adjust for differences in survey populations; therefore, the results may not be directly comparable.

For more information please see NHS England, National Patient and Staff Surveys.

Patient experience: do patients have confidence and trust in clinicians? (2024)

FAQs

Patient experience: do patients have confidence and trust in clinicians? ›

The proportion of respondents who 'always' had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them remained between 77% and 80%, and those who did not have confidence and trust fluctuated around 4%. In 2020, 84% of respondents 'always' had confidence and trust in the doctors treating them, while 3% did not.

Why is patient trust so important for medical professionals to have? ›

The doctor-patient relationship lies at the heart of health care, and patient trust is a fundamental aspect of that relationship. If a patient trusts you and feels like they can be honest with you without judgment, they'll be more likely to provide information that can help you provide better care.

Why is confidence important as a healthcare professional? ›

If you are a nurse, you may have people refuse your help, causing conflict and hostility and leaving you needing someone else to fulfill your duties. For these reasons, you need to build confidence in your healthcare services to communicate with patients as a reliable authority in your field.

What are the 4 pillars of patient experience? ›

To make it simpler, we've boiled patient satisfaction down into four main pillars: Environment, Expectations, Care, and Value.

What are the 5 key initiatives of the patient experience? ›

How to Improve Patient Experience: 5 Key Initiatives
  • Invest in patient engagement solutions.
  • Establish real-time transparency.
  • Connect prior to discharge.
  • Develop a learning culture.
  • Hear from patients in their own words.
Nov 1, 2023

How do you maintain trust professional relationship with patients? ›

be polite, considerate and honest and treat patients with dignity. treat each patient as an individual. Respect patients' privacy and right to confidentiality. support patients in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health.

What is the most appropriate way to establish trust with a patient? ›

First and foremost, building good rapport

It takes practice of interpersonal communication skills to learn how to start and maintain friendly conversation. Some easy methods of building rapport are to ask how a patient's family is, where they attend school, what hobbies they have, or find some common ground.

Why is confidence important for wellbeing? ›

But low confidence can also make us less likely to stand up for ourselves at work, less likely to take care of ourselves, and can make it harder for us to recover from setbacks. Luckily, it's possible to improve our confidence over time, which can have the knock-on effect of also improving our mental health.

How do you build patient confidence? ›

To boost self-esteem, you have to make patients feel comfortable. One way to achieve this is by developing a natural conversation beyond discussions of their condition and treatment. Ask them questions about their family, pets, career and hobbies to engage them, or offer a genuine compliment.

Why is confidence an important quality? ›

People who are low on confidence might be less likely to try new things or reach out to new people. If they fail at something the first time, they might be less likely to try again. A lack of confidence can hold people back from reaching their full potential.

What makes a positive patient experience? ›

A patient wants to feel that their healthcare provider understands them. They want their healthcare provider to understand not only their health problem but also the emotions and feelings surrounding their sickness or ailment. The better a healthcare provider understands a patient's story, the better the experience.

What is good patient experience? ›

An effective patient experience requires staff to address every aspect of the care journey, including physical comfort, understanding of the process, and emotional needs.

What is patient experience and why is it important? ›

Patient Experience Defined

Understanding patient experience is a key step in moving toward patient-centered care. By looking at various aspects of patient experience, one can assess the extent to which patients are receiving care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values.

What are the most important factors in patient experience? ›

Power Of Small Things In Shaping The Patient Experience In Healthcare
  1. Interaction And Communication. How healthcare providers interact and communicate with patients plays a vital role in shaping their experience. ...
  2. Healthcare Staff Behavior. ...
  3. Patient Convenience. ...
  4. Healthcare Costs. ...
  5. Follow-Up.
Jun 22, 2023

What is the goal of patient experience? ›

Patient experience is a term often applied broadly to initiatives such as reducing hospital stay length and readmission rates, cutting down incidences of patient safety events, and ensuring patients feel seen and heard.

What is an example of patient experience? ›

Things such as getting timely appointments, access to health information, and having a good relationship with healthcare providers comprise of the patient experience. Because of the strong connection between patient experience and health outcomes, it is critical to improve patient experience in hospitals.

Why is patient trust so important for medical professionals to have brainly? ›

Why is patient trust so important for medical professionals to have? The correct answer is B. Patients need medical care that is in their best interest. Patient trust is crucial in the healthcare industry because it forms the foundation of a strong doctor-patient relationship.

Why is patient trust so important for medical professionals to have apex? ›

Expert-Verified Answer

Patient trust is important for medical professionals to have because it ensures that patients receive medical care that is in their best interest and leads to a positive doctor-patient relationship.

What is trust and why is this important in the nursing profession? ›

Trust is characterized as an attitude relying with confidence on someone. The importance of trust relationships is considered by addressing the imbalances of power in nurse-patient relationships as they increase the vulnerability and dependency of the truster.

Why is it so important that healthcare professionals understand and honor patient rights? ›

The establishment of patient rights standardizes the application of ethical principles to particular medical situations. Such documents provide the framework by which a patient can expect to receive care and by which members of a healthcare team can best promote the rights for each patient.

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