Patient survey hospital praised

BUDLEIGH Salterton Hospital has been rated among some of the best community hospitals in the country.A survey carried out by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) shows the quality of food, privacy and dignity afforded to patients at Devon Primary Care Trust-run Budleigh hospital is considered well above the mark.The ambience and decor of the town's community hospital was also ranked highly.The survey found Budleigh Salterton's facilities offered its patients 'excellent' food, an 'excellent' environment and a 'good' level of privacy and dignity. Budleigh Salterton hospital business manager Tina Slade said the quality of service was down to team effort."The staff at Budleigh Salterton hospital must take a great deal of credit for our score and I'd like to thank the nursing staff and hotel services team for their hard work in helping us achieve these results," she said.The survey was set up in 2000 to assess NHS hospitals.Under the programme, every in-patient healthcare facility in England with more than ten beds is checked annually and given a rating of excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable.The inspection teams include patients, their representatives and NHS frontline staff.A total of 21 community hospitals in Devon were rated good or excellent for the quality of their food, and a similar number good or excellent for the quality of their environment. No hospital in Devon received a poor rating in any of the categories.Dr Kevin Snee, chief executive of Devon Primary Care Trust, said he welcomed the findings."This survey shows us some compelling reasons why community hospitals are much loved in Devon," he said."Patients at our hospitals can expect good quality food, a pleasant environment and good levels of privacy and dignity."Our staff work hard to get these things right and I'd like to thank them publicly for their efforts.