Hospital patient experiences improve but discharge concerns remain, CQC survey finds

Hospital patients in England are reporting improvements in their experiences of inpatient care, although concerns remain around discharge arrangements and support after leaving hospital, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The findings come from CQC’s 2025 adult inpatient survey, published today, 26 August, which gathered the views of more than 58,000 people who spent at least one night in one of 130 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England during November 2025.

Overall satisfaction improved compared with the previous year, with more respondents giving their hospital experience a score of ten out of ten. Most questions that were also included in the previous survey either showed an improvement or remained stable.

Experiences with doctors and nurses were largely positive. Around 79% of respondents said they always had confidence and trust in the nurses treating them, up from 78% in 2024, while 77% said doctors always included them in conversations about their care, compared with 76% the previous year.

The proportion of people who felt able to talk to hospital staff about their worries and fears increased from 60% to 62%, while 38% said staff involved them a great deal in decisions about their care and treatment, compared with 37% in 2024.

There were also signs of improvement around staffing. Some 59% of respondents felt there were always enough nurses on duty, compared with 58% in 2024 and 52% in 2022. The proportion of patients who said they could always get help from a member of staff when they needed attention has increased from 63% in 2021 to 65% in 2025.

Among people who needed assistance to eat their meals, 73% said they were always able to get help, up from 71% the previous year.

For the first time, patients were also asked whether hospital staff took their individual needs into account. More than eight in ten said their accessibility needs were considered where required, while 82% said the same for language needs. However, only 61% felt their mental health needs had been taken into account during their care and treatment.

Despite the wider improvements, discharge from hospital continues to be a significant concern. Among respondents who felt their family or carers needed to be involved in decisions about them leaving hospital, 21% said they were not involved at all and a further 17% said they were not very involved.

Almost a quarter of respondents, 24%, said they did not receive enough support from health or social care services to help them recover or manage their condition after leaving hospital, slightly higher than the 23% recorded in 2024.

Waiting for admission also remains an issue. Among people waiting for elective treatment, 23% said they would have liked to have been admitted a bit sooner and 19% wanted to have been admitted a lot sooner. A quarter said their health became a bit worse while waiting, while 18% said it became much worse.

For patients who had to wait before being admitted to a ward, 46% reported waiting in a treatment bay, 32% in a waiting room and 18% in a corridor or hallway.

The survey also identified significant differences in experience between patient groups. People living with frailty and those admitted as emergencies reported worse than average experiences across all 20 questions analysed. People with disabilities, dementia or Alzheimer’s and neurological conditions also reported poorer experiences across a number of areas of care.

Dr Toli Onon, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, welcomed the improvements in patients’ interactions with hospital staff but said the lack of progress around discharge and post-hospital support was disappointing.

CQC has shared individual results with all 130 participating trusts to help them identify areas where improvements can be made. The regulator will also use the findings as part of its ongoing monitoring of hospital services and to inform future inspections.

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