The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust – which provides specialist cancer care for the 2.4m people of Merseyside, Cheshire and beyond – has been rated one of the best hospitals in England for inpatient care for the sixth year in a row.
It was rated third best nationally and was one of just eight hospital trusts to achieve the top overall rating of ‘Much better than expected’ in the CQC’s National Inpatient Survey 2024, published today. The survey involved 131 NHS organisations in England and was completed by 62,444 patients nationally who spent at least one night in hospital in 2024.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre achieved the best or second highest scores in the country on questions including:
- Were you ever prevented from sleeping at night by noise from other patients?
- Were you ever prevented from sleeping at night by hospital lighting?
- When doctors spoke about your care in front of you, were you included in the conversation?
- When nurses spoke about your care in front of you, were you included in the conversation?
- Were you given enough privacy when being examined or treated?
- Overall, did you feel you were treated with kindness and compassion while you were in hospital?
- How would you rate the quality of information you were given while on the waiting list to be admitted to hospital?
In comparison with other English hospitals, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre scored:
- ‘Much better than expected’ on 26 of the 43 rated survey questions
- ‘Better than expected’ on 10 questions
- ‘Somewhat better than expected’ on 3 questions, and
- ‘About the same’ as expected on 4 questions
There were 0 questions where The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre performed worse than expected, compared with other hospitals.
Particular areas of strength included:
- Patients feeling able to speak to hospital staff about their worries and fears
- Hospital staff making sure patients felt included in conversations about their care
- Hospital staff involving patients in decisions about their care
- Having enough nurses on duty
- Hospital staff doing everything they could to manage patients’ pain
- Patients being able to get help from hospital staff when they needed it
- The quality of information patients received about their condition or treatment, and the information they received before coming into hospital
- Patients’ ability to sleep while in hospital without being disturbed by noise or lights
- Hospital staff involving patients and their relatives in discussions and decisions about leaving hospital
- Patients having support in place and the information they needed when leaving hospital
Julie Gray, Chief Nurse at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said:
We want every patient to have the best possible experience of our care before, during and after staying on our wards so it’s fantastic that they have rated us one of England’s top hospitals once again.
Our staff do all they can to support and care for people during what can be a difficult time in their lives. We listen carefully to feedback so we can keep improving.
