Patients can rate their treatment

PATIENTS treated at Exmouth or Budleigh Salterton hospitals can now rate the service they received. Health chiefs are asking for feedback in an attempt to give patients more of a say about the care they are given.

PATIENTS treated at Exmouth or Budleigh Salterton hospitals can now rate the service they received.

Health chiefs are asking for feedback in an attempt to give patients more of a say about the care they are given.

The new online service, launched last week by Health Secretary Andy Burnham, allows patients to rate and compare hospitals on issues such as cleanliness, car parking and waiting times.

It can be found at www.nhs.uk

Sally Slade, Devon Primary Care Trust's managing director of health and social care delivery, said: "Offering patients the option to rate their hospital gives them real power and puts them at the heart of the NHS.

"This new site will help patients to share information about health services and make an informed decision about their treatment.

"We already encourage feedback from patients on a local level but this goes one step further, giving the patient a real say."

As patients now have the right to choose when and where they get hospital treatment the new web-based scorecard will provide all the information they need to choose which hospital is for them.

Information on the site includes mortality rates, infection rates, cleanliness, staff performance and quality of food, as well as the views of people who have used the hospital's services.