Kingston Hospital staff are the happiest of any acute trust in south west London, according to a survey of workers.

Just more than 82 per cent of workers agreed care of patients is the NHS trust’s top priority and 69 per cent of staff said they would recommend the hospital as a good place to work, the annual staff survey found.

The results ensure Kingston Hospital finished in the top 20 per cent of trusts in the country and outscored the rest of south west London.

Ann Radmore, chief executive of Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have worked very hard and listened to staff over the last year to ensure we focus on the areas that are important to them.

“We recognise there are still areas we need to work on together and are putting measures in place to ensure we improve and look after the health and wellbeing of our staff.”

Just more than half of staff responded to the survey, an increase of 300 from last year, leaving the trust with one of the highest response rates in the country.

The survey also found that three-quarters of staff would “be happy with the standard of care provided by the organisation if a friend or relative needed treatment”.