Yesterday we had the results of the latest national survey of patients, the national inpatient experience survey, which was carried out in many hospitals. The majority of patients did report positive experiences in hospital; however, several areas needed improvement. Some 450 patients took part in the survey in University Hospital Waterford. Unfortunately, that hospital scored below the national average for care on the ward, discharge or transfer of care, and overall experience. This means that confidence in the health service is once again eroded-----

A question, please.

-----while fantastic staff work under extreme conditions and constant pressure. Will additional measures be put in place to focus on patient dignity, comfort and respect, and transfer of care? According to the figures released, the number of patients waiting for timely discharge of care correlates with the number of people normally waiting in emergency departments.

What was produced yesterday was the third national inpatient experience survey. I was involved in setting up the survey when I was Minister for Health. I am glad it is being done now because the best way to find out what people think of the health service is to ask patients. Tens of thousands of patients are surveyed every year. Yesterday's results showed that 84% of people say their experience of our public health service is either good or very good, so notwithstanding the real problems we have in our health service, well over 80% of people who use it said that their experience was good or very good. That does not always come across in public discourse. I encourage each hospital, based on its own set of results, to compare itself against others. If a particular hospital is doing poorly in one area relative to another hospital, the best thing the former can do is to approach the hospital that is scoring well, find out what best practice is and try to implement it. We see enormous variation from hospital to hospital. Even on the issue of overcrowding, for example, hospitals that used to be top of the league table in overcrowding, such as Beaumont and Drogheda, are now the least overcrowded. That shows how best practice can make a huge difference for patients.