PATIENTS have failed to give the hospital trust which runs Lister top scores in almost all areas of care. The results of the national Inpatient Survey 2007, carried out by independent health watchdog the Healthcare Commission, have ju

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PATIENTS have failed to give the hospital trust which runs Lister top scores in almost all areas of care.

The results of the national Inpatient Survey 2007, carried out by independent health watchdog the Healthcare Commission, have just been published.

Only two of the 62 questions answered put The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust within the top 20 per cent of Trusts in the country. These related to patients being given enough privacy when being examined or treated, and hospital staff providing patients with information of how to make a complaint.

The Trust scored within the bottom 20 per cent of Trusts in the country in 16 areas. These included confidence and trust in doctors, doctors and nurses' teamwork, overall care, and the length of time it took to be admitted to hospital.

In 44 areas, the Trust scored somewhere between the top and the bottom 20 per cent of Trusts in the country. These areas included cleanliness of the hospital rooms and wards, noise at night from other patients, and doctors and nurses washing their hands between patients.

Compared to the results from the Inpatient Survey 2006, improvements were seen in 14 areas including cleanliness, food choice and quality, hand washing by clinical staff, and having sufficient numbers of staff on duty.

The Trust's chief executive, Nick Carver, said: "While there was much to celebrate from this year's survey, it also highlighted those areas where we still need to do more work.

"A detailed action plan has been drawn up to address the issues that this survey has revealed, which is now being implemented.

"While this is very important, it should not detract from all the great work put in by our staff over the last few years. The overall experience reported by patients of their care has improved steadily.