Ireland's public acute hospitals are delivering strong customer experience outcomes, and the data to build further on that progress is now available. The National Inpatient Experience Survey 2024, drawing on 12,367 responses from patients across 40 public acute hospitals, records a strongly positive headline: 85 per cent of respondents rated their overall care as good or very good, with customer satisfaction scores strong across dignity and respect, confidence and trust in staff, and patient safety.

The survey offers healthcare CX leaders both confirmation and direction. On customer experience excellence, the 2024 results show meaningful improvement across 16 dimensions since 2022. The productive cx strategy question is not where Irish hospitals are falling short but where voice of the customer data points to specific, actionable investment opportunities that will carry scores higher still.

The areas of strongest performance are instructive for customer experience leaders across Irish healthcare. Dignity and respect, confidence and trust in staff, pain management, and patient safety all scored highly and strongly correlate with overall customer satisfaction. Scores improved across communication, patient involvement, and discharge care since 2022. CXi Ireland benchmarking shows trust and consistency as primary loyalty drivers across Irish sectors, confirming these as the foundations for service excellence in healthcare.

Three specific customer experience improvement opportunities emerge clearly from the data. Patients most frequently report needing access to staff to discuss worries and fears, more time with doctors, and clearer information about managing their condition after discharge. These are design-level challenges rather than resource ones. A customer centric strategy treating each as a structured patient journey intervention will generate the customer insights needed to make consistent, measurable progress across every hospital and health region.

Group-level findings identify three patient populations healthcare CX leaders should prioritise. Younger patients aged 16 to 35, patients with a disability, and women consistently reported less positive experiences across all stages of care. These voice of the customer signals, addressed through structured pathway redesign, close gaps without altering clinical protocols. Discharge information is particularly addressable through digital experience tools including post-discharge communications and digital aftercare guidance, extending the omnichannel experience beyond the ward.

Three practical steps would allow Irish healthcare CX leaders to build on the 2024 findings. First, design a structured staff-patient conversation framework for worries and fears, treating it as a designed customer experience touchpoint with a consistent format. Second, invest in digital customer experience solutions for discharge, including condition-specific aftercare guidance in accessible formats. Third, use the survey's group-level data to set targeted service excellence improvement plans by patient population, tracked annually against NCEP survey results.

The National Inpatient Experience Survey 2024 is a constructive evidence base. Most patients rate care highly, and improvements recorded since 2022 demonstrate that structured investment in customer experience design delivers measurable results. All three opportunity areas in emotional support access, doctor time, and discharge information are actionable. Healthcare CX leaders who treat them as customer satisfaction design priorities will build the customer loyalty and reputation that sustained excellence in Irish public healthcare requires.