THE Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) has been hailed as one of the country's best thanks to patient feedback.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which monitors, regulates and inspects health and social care services in England, has published the results of the latest national Adult Inpatient Survey.

Chief executive Mark Brandreth said: "Patient feedback is crucial in helping us to keep our standards high. The results of this year's survey once again reflect how our staff are fully committed to providing world-class care to our patients, but we cannot be complacent.

"We can and will look for opportunities to make continuous improvement to deliver ever better patient experience and outcomes."

The Gobowen-based hospital is one of just seven organisations to be placed in the top band of health trusts delivering results that are considered "much better than expected", with patient experience that is substantially better than elsewhere.

RJAH is also classed as "much better" in both medical care and surgery.

Mr Brandreth added: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff their dedication and commitment, which has resulted in results like this."

The Adult Inpatient Survey includes NHS acute trusts in the country, and this year reveals what nearly 73,000 adults who had stayed in hospital for at least one night during July last year said about the care they received.

It asked people to give their opinions on the care they received, including quality of information and communication with staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the amount of support given to help them eat and drink and assist with personal hygiene, and on their discharge arrangements.

A total of 1,248 were asked to complete the survey at RJAH and 729 returned it. This equates to a response rate of 58.5 per cent - well above the national average of 38.3 per cent.

RJAH received high scores in a number of areas. Hospital food rated as being best in country with a score of 8.02.

Other highlights within the report included that RJAH ranked in second place for patients' confidence and trust in the doctors and nurses treating them.

Cleanliness also scored well – with the hospital's wards and rooms being rated as second cleanest in the country.

Overall patient experience saw the hospital come joint second – with a score of 9.1 that was matched by the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital came out top, with a score of 9.2.

RJAH was also rated as joint second for treating patients with respect and dignity during their time in hospital.

Non-clinical staff, such as porters, housekeeping and catering staff, came out joint second, in how well looked after patients felt, while at RJAH.

Bev Tabernacle, director of nursing and deputy chief executive, said: "We really value the opinions of our patients and are always delighted to receive feedback from the people we treat.

"It is extremely rewarding to see the professionalism and expertise of our staff recognised in this survey and we will continue to strive to deliver the very best of care.

"We will analyse the data in great depth to highlight areas for progress and draw up action plans to tackle these."

Full details of the Adult Inpatient Survey 2017 can be found online at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/surveys/adult-inpatient-survey-2017