A SURVEY asking patients if they would recommend community hospitals in Gloucestershire to their friends and family reveals the vast majority would say ‘yes’.

Since its formation in April last year, Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust has been asking patients at its seven community hospitals - including the North Cotswold Hospital, in Moreton, - how likely they would be to recommend care at the trust.

Results to the end of December last year show 97.5 per cent of Friends and Family Test (FFT) respondents would be ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend the trust.

Patients are asked to complete the FFT when they are discharged and invited to leave additional comments and suggestions.

Liz Fenton, Director of Nursing, said: “It is fantastic to see such a positive response to the services we are providing, and it is a credit to my colleagues working in our community hospitals.

“These surveys provide our service users with an opportunity to tell us their experiences and provide us with valuable feedback to help us continue to improve care.

"I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to complete the survey and look forward to extending the Friends and Family Test to other services later this year.”

Surveys are currently collected from the trust’s seven community hospitals’ wards and minor injuries units with about 8,000 surveys returned so far.

Staff at the trust are due to be included in the survey from April and it is expected to be running across all services by the end of the year.