Patients to Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals would be “extremely likely” to recommend using the hospitals services.

Data from the Friends and Family Test gave the trust a score of 74 for inpatient services and 45 for the accident and emergency (A&E) department.

Nearly 1,800 patients completed the test, making it one of the highest response rates in the south-east, with 45.1 per cent of inpatients and 22.5 per cent of A&E patients taking part.

The test, which launched in April and collected data monthly, asked patients whether they would recommend the hospitals wards and A&E departments to friends and family.

Of the responses given by Ashford and St Peter’s patients, 74 per cent of inpatients between April and June this year would be “extremely likely” to recommend the hospital and 18 per cent “likely” to.

In the A&E, 58.8 per cent of patients who used the department in the same period would be extremely likely to recommend the department and 23.3 likely to.

In comparison, Kingston Hospital achieved a Friends and Family score of 62 and Epsom Hospital a score of 65.

Suzanne Rankin, chief nurse at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital, said: “We are pleased with our inpatient score, which is a good, solid score and compares well with other trusts locally and nationally.

“We feel that our A&E score is fairly on par with other trusts who have a similar response rate to us, but lower than we would like it to be.

“We are looking carefully at the comments and suggestions our A&E patients have made and how we can improve, for example how we communicate waiting times and ensure a better selection of food is available.”

From October, the test will also be used in maternity services and it is planned to be rolled out across all NHS services shortly after.

 

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