Patients rate Gobowen hospital best in country

The RJAH scored 9.41 out of 10 for overall patient experience

An orthopaedic hospital in Shropshire has been rated the best in the country for overall patient experience.

Patients from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Gobowen, near Oswestry, were asked to rate how they found the hospital.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, completed in November 2021, said overall patients scored it 9.41 out of 10 against other hospitals.

Hospital chief executive Stacey Keegan said staff should be very proud.

"It is gratifying that they (the patients) are so positive about the experience they have had through what has been a very challenging period for ourselves and for the wider NHS," Ms Keegan added.

The survey asked people to rank the hospital on the care they received, including quality of information and communication with staff, whether they were given enough privacy, the amount of support given to help them eat and drink and assist with personal hygiene, and on their discharge arrangements.

The RJAH scored 9.41 out of 10 for overall patient experience and the wards and rooms were ranked the cleanest in the country for the third year in a row.

However, younger people consistently reported poorer experiences of inpatient care.

Patients who reported having Dementia or Alzheimer's, a mental health condition, a heart problem and those with a neurological condition also reported poorer experiences for more than half of the questions.

Help shape improvement

The hospital scored well in having confidence and trust in the doctors and nurses treating patients, whether patients felt included in conversations with their doctors about their care, and understanding the answers to their questions.

Areas of improvement included patients getting help to eat their meals, getting help from staff when they needed it and enough support from health and social care services after they left hospital to help them recover or manage their condition.

Sara Ellis-Anderson, Interim Chief Nurse, said that they will use the results to "celebrate our strengths, but also to help shape our areas for improvement so that we can continue to raise the bar".