What do children think about how they are treated in hospital?

A recent survey has found that most children have a positive experience when they have to go to hospital.

But some others also reported not feeling listened to by doctors and staff and to being bothered about how long they had to wait to be seen.

The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked into children's experiences in hospital through a survey that 25,000 children and their families filled in between March-May 2024, asking what they thought of the care they got.

The survey results were then used to write a report which tells hospitals what's working for kids and what isn't.

CQC stands for Care Quality Commission and among their jobs is checking that places like hospitals, doctor's surgeries and dentists are safe and staff there look after people properly.

They do this through visits, inpsections and surveys (like this one). They might ask questions like: Is everyone safe or are the doctors and nurses kind?

The answers and what they find is then written up into a report that says:

When asked if how looked after they felt in hospital, 7 out of 10 (73%) children aged 8-15 said that they felt staff looked after them "very well" in hospital.

They also mostly felt included in their care, and were able to ask doctors and nurses about how they were cared for and felt they had a say in any decisions.

According to the survey nearly 8 out of 10 (79%) of children aged 8–11 and nearly 9 out of 10 ( 87%) aged 12–15 felt as involved as they wanted to be in decisions about their care.

Being in hospital can also be boring for children but just over half (53%) of 8 to 15 year olds said that staff played or did activities with them while they were in hospital 'as much as I wanted'.

When it came to hospital food, around 8 out of 10 parents (76%) and children aged 12-15 (81%) said that there was always, or sometimes, enough choice of things to eat.

It wasn't all good news when it came to how children felt they were treated.

Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) aged 8-15 said staff did not 'always' listen to what they had to say and 1 in 20 (5%) said they didn't feel listened to "at all".

The CQC also found that children and young people with a disability, a mental health condition, or autism were less happy with their experiences in hospital.

Their parents didn't always feel they or their children were listened too and or felt their child's needs, such as language or physical adaptations, were being met.

For example, just under 6 out of 10 (58%) parents and carers of kids with disabilities said staff 'definitely' took their child's existing individual needs into , compared with more than 7 out of 10 (75%) among children and young people who are not disabled.

It also made a big difference why children were going to hospital.

Children who went in for emergencies had a worse experience than those who had planned appointments

Waiting was a big issue and when survey asked the what bothered children the most about waiting, 3 in 5 (61%) said it was how long they had to wait and 2 in 5 (41%) complained they didn't really know what was happening,

Staying in hospital can also be a difficult time and two thirds (66%) of those answering this question said they were stopped from sleeping by things like noise from other people (42%), noise from medical equipment (31%) and hospital lighting (16%).

The results of the survey findings are now shared so that hospitals can review their results and CQC says that it will use the findings as they carry on inspecting and monitoring the services that children use.

CQC Chief Inspector Aidan Fowler said that while the NHS should be "pleased with the results of the 2024 survey" it does need improvement "particularly in cases where children had a mental health condition and for autistic or disabled children."

"I'd urge hospital trusts to examine the results of this survey, together with our inspection reports to help them identify any changes they can make to ensure all children and young people receive the best quality of care every time," he added.