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NHS in good health but could try harder, report saysDate: 16/05/2007 09:25:24
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The National Health Service appears to be fighting fit - however improvements still need to be made to improve patient care, the results of a survey have shown.
According to the poll carried out by the Healthcare Commission (HC), 90 per cent of patients rated their NHS treatment as 'good' or 'excellent'.
And, in what is sure to come as good news for the much-maligned NHS, just two per cent of patients claimed the care they received was 'poor'.
Furthermore, waiting times for patients and overall cleanliness of hospitals had also improved, the HC said.
However, the NHS was found to be lacking in provision of single-sex care, with a "significant majority" of patients still receiving treatment in mixed-sex wards.
Anna Walker, HC chief executive said: "We all hear a lot of negative comment about the NHS, but we must never forget that most patients have consistently rated the overall quality of their care as good or excellent.
"Staff should remember this as it shows that patients value the good work they do. The results also suggest that we need a fresh drive to tackle a set of issues related to treating patients with dignity."
Commenting on the findings, health minister Patricia Hewitt, who has frequently been on the receiving end of complaints about the NHS from staff and patients, said medical professionals should take "great pride" in the results.
"The NHS is totally transformed from what it was ten years ago. It is heartening to see that, contrary to what critics of the NHS say, the overwhelming majority of patients are happy.
"They waited less time for treatment, reported higher standards of cleanliness on wards and high levels of trust in doctors and ambulance staff," she added.
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