Patient and family experience

Penny the Pen Pal Hippo

The Penny the PenPal Hippo Program is an initiative of SCHN that enables community members to share messages of kindness and hope with patients, families and staff within our hospitals. 

Messages and artwork that are shared:

• Do not include personal details of the author, artist or recipient
• Are kind and positive
• Support families of all backgrounds 
• Are smaller than A3 and do not have any small objects stuck to them (as these may pose a choking hazard)

Penny reviews each message or artwork before sharing it with families and staff at both our hospitals. 

We're here to improve your experience while you're staying with us in hospital.

We are always looking to improve your experience and have a number of projects in the early phases such as; community gardens, an update of all ward parent accommodation, sibling support program, improved facilities for bereaved families, increased use of patients and families in educational material and more language translation of posters and signage.

Emergency Department Survey 2021

In March, The Children's Hospital at Westmead Emergency Department moved into Block K, part of the new building we share with Westmead Hospital.

We have compiled a survey to capture feedback as they settle in and invite you to complete it so we can hear about your experiences in Emergency.

• Complete the 2-3 minute survey

What you told us about our Emergency Departments in 2020

Here's a snapshot of combined data from the Emergency Departments at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, and The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

• 79.83% of people rate the care they received in our emergency departments as very good.
• 68.6% of people reported that they were always able to get assistance or advice from staff for their personal needs.
• 76.99% of people reported that emergency department staff were always kind and caring.
• 67.95% of people reported that emergency department staff gave them enough information on arrival about what to expect during their visit.
• 74.6% of people reported that emergency department staff always explained things in a way they could understand.

What we changed:

• Dedicated Patient Experience Officers employed to assist patients and families in the emergency department waiting areas.
• New seating and mobile phone charging station installed in the emergency department waiting area at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.
• Customer service training delivered to emergency department staff at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

The Bureau of Health Information (BHI)

The BHI is a government organisation that produces independent reports and information about the performance of the NSW healthcare system.

The information is used to strengthen accountability and support system-wide and local improvements in patients’ healthcare experiences and outcomes. Public reporting of this information enhances transparency and understanding of healthcare performance for consumers and local communities.

The reports produced draw on a variety of sources to analyse and report on healthcare performance, providing trends and benchmarks at state, local health district and hospital level.

The BHI manages the NSW Patient Survey Program, which offers families and patients the opportunity to provide feedback about their experiences of care in the health system.

• See BHI hospital-specific information on performance and experience for The Children s Hospital at Westmead
• See BHI hospital-specific information on performance and experience for Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick

Can you help us improve the patient experience?

For more information, please email the Patient and Family Engagement team at SCHN-PatientandFamilyEngagement@health.nsw.gov.au