People in the province’s northern health zones have very different health care experiences, according to a new survey from the New Brunswick Health Council.
Zone 5, the Restigouche area, has the lowest rating compared to its neighbour, Zone 4, Madawaska and the North-West Area.
The government-funded provincial health council surveyed 4,719 people who experienced critical care between June and November of 2023.
Acute care means a patient is admitted to the hospital for a short period of time, until they get what they need and return home. Some admissions are planned, like surgeries, and some aren’t, like emergencies, the website says.
The survey identified six key areas:
- How seriously the staff consider a patient’s safety
- How well the hospital help with pain control
- How well nurses communicate
- How well the patient received information about condition and treatment
- How well the patient received information about their condition and treatment
- How much the patient benefitted from internal care coordination
This graph shows how each health zone ranks.
This graph shows statistics from a NBHC survey that gathered results from 4,719 people who experienced critical care between June and November of 2023. (NBHC)
Here is a link to the rest of the survey.
The survey suggests overall that patients in acute care felt good about their care. Zone 4 Madawaska had the highest amount of people who rated their experience good or very good. Zone 7 Miramichi had the lowest at 74 per cent.
Overall, more than half of patients felt admission for planned care was good, but more than half were dissatisfied with emergency department admission.
About half of people felt they were informed about their condition and their admission process in zones 4 and 6, while it was between 3 and 4 people in other areas.
