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There has been an increase in the number of patients who rate the care provided by Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) hospitals as “excellent”, according to a survey.
In the study of patients staying overnight in English NHS hospitals, 42% gave the top possible rating, up from 38% in 2002 and an increase from 41% in the last Healthcare Commission survey.
The figures also showed that satisfaction with overall care remained high with the proportion of patients saying their care is “good”, “very good” or “excellent” at 92%.
But the commission said some trusts must take more action to achieve better standards after it was found there were striking variations in the responses at different NHS trusts.
The survey, co-ordinated for the commission by the Picker Institute, considered responses from just under 76,000 recent adult inpatients at 165 hospital trusts in England.
For the first time, the commission released a national overview showing the comparative scores for all NHS trusts on topics such as hospital food, cleanliness and levels of privacy on its website.
The commission says the results will help trusts to understand the views of their patients and respond to any concerns.
It expects NHS trusts to use the results to improve standards of care. It will also use the survey results in its assessments of NHS services, which include the annual NHS performance ratings.
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