BARNSLEY Hospital has been rated among the region’s best for its patients’ experiences of the services they are met with.

The Care Quality Commission’s inpatient survey asked people who stayed at least one night in hospital about their experience.

It covered admission, care and treatment on wards, and the help provided upon discharge.

The healthcare watchdog’s annual survey highlighted that the trust had improved in many areas such as how patients understood information, on-ward privacy and staff compassion.

Following the previous year’s survey, hospital bosses implemented a range of improvements following the CQC’s findings such as welcome packs, the ‘Three Things About Me’ initiative which promotes interaction, and the introduction of pharmacy volunteers to support transfer of medications to ward areas.

However, this year’s findings concluded that the hospital did not perform as well as others in sectors including virtual ward arrangements, aftercare and reasons for changing wards during the night being explained to patients in a way they could understand.

Becky Hoskins, deputy director of nursing, said: “We are pleased our patients are telling us their experiences are getting better and we have been working hard to listen to and act on their feedback.

“But we know there is always more to do.

“These results play a huge part in our ambitious plans for improvement.”

The nationwide survey included 131 trusts and responses were received from 63,573 patients - a rate of 41.7 per cent.

The response rate for Barnsley Hospital was 40 per cent, with 456 patients responding.

Ms Hoskins added: “Specific areas we will be focusing on, based on feedback from patients and carers, include improving patient, carer and family access to timely and relevant information, ensuring they have a quality night’s sleep and supporting families to discuss and share with staff the things that are most important to them.”