Hospitals need 'a prescription for a change'

5:39pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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PATIENTS have slammed the quality of care at hospitals in west Hertfordshire which have finished near the bottom of a national survey.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs wards at St Albans City, Hemel Hempstead and Watford, scored in the worst 20 per cent for almost all the questions posed.

Patients who received treatment in 2007 criticised lack of privacy, night-time noise, dirtiness, delays, lack of information and poor communication from staff.

In only eight out of 60 key questions, which all focused on patients' experience of hospitals rather than quality and effectiveness of treatment, did the trust manage to get out of the bottom 20 per cent.

St Albans MP Anne Main said: "I can't say I am surprised, because often people have said to me that the medical outcome is fine but the hospitals look neglected, patients have been left hanging around and staff do not have time for them.

"Staff have been put under a lot of pressure to deliver results, and people feel they are not given enough attention. The personal side of nursing seems to have suffered."

Labour district councillor Roma Mills added: "The trust has got to get its act together. Staff morale has deteriorated with all the changes and consultations over the last ten years, and that has not helped. It may be that clinical outcomes are very good, but people also need to feel cared for. People want clean wards and curtains and privacy.

"If my child or my mother was going to hospital, I would want to feel confident they would be treated with care and consideration. There have always been issues about quality at care at St Albans City Hospital, Hemel Hempstead and Watford. Clearly these issues are still there."