PATIENTS aren t happy with the standard of care at local hospitals, according to a survey which has revealed the Trust responsible to be one of the worst performing in the country. West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT), which runs St Albans City, Hemel He

PATIENTS aren't happy with the standard of care at local hospitals, according to a survey which has revealed the Trust responsible to be one of the worst performing in the country.

West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT), which runs St Albans City, Hemel Hempstead and Watford Hospitals, finished fifth from the bottom in the Healthcare Commission's inpatient survey for 2007 after appearing among the worst 20 per cent of trusts in most of the 72 categories.

The criticisms made in the survey of patients who stayed at least one night at a hospital last summer, included waiting-list times, cleanliness, admission-date changes, noise at night, staff levels and poor communication.

Most patients did not feel that they were treated with respect and dignity during their stay at hospital and rated badly the overall care they received.

The Trust came right at the bottom of the list on giving patients or their families written information on what to do when leaving hospital and the side effects of medication they were given.

In only eight of the questions posed did the Trust manage to rate better than the worst 20 per cent of Trusts.

WHHT chief executive Jan Filochowski admitted the results were disappointing but emphasised that the they had made very significant improvements since the survey was undertaken, especially in infection control, improved access and reduced A and E waits.

He said: "However, overall the results are disappointing and it will be a key task this year to ensure we do better in the future, giving our patients as positive experience as we can."

He added: "We are looking through all of these measures to see where we do better and where we do worse. This will enable us to establish patterns, and in particular weaknesses, we can address.