PATIENTS have given Worcestershire Royal Hospital a clean bill of health in a new “secret-shopper” style assessment.

The new patient-led assessments have been introduced for hospitals up-and-down the country this year to ensure the people relying on local hospitals have a chance to tell bosses what they really think.

Inspection teams of patients, volunteers and local Healthwatch members visited more than 1,300 hospitals, rating them on cleanliness, privacy and dignity, food and general upkeep and appearance.

And the first results, published today, have brought good news for staff at Worcestershire Royal, with scores in all four categories either in line with or above the national averages.

The hospital fared particularly well in privacy and dignity, with a score of 91.49 per cent compared to the national average of 89 per cent, and in condition and appearance, with a score of 92.75 per cent compared to the national average 85 per cent.

There were also strong showings for Redditch Alexandra and Kidderminster Hospitals, which are also run by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust.

The trust’s overall scores of 96.9 per cent for cleanliness, 83.63 per cent for food, 87.42 per cent for privacy and dignity and 89.61 percent for upkeep were all above the national averages.

Penny Venables, the acute trust’s chief executive, said the patient assessments give an “important independent perspective”.

“I’m proud that we have scored so highly across the trust,” she said. “It’s great that patients can see the hard work and effort put in by our staff to maintain a professional and efficient environment, somewhere that patients can tell they are going to be well looked after.”

The county’s community hospitals, which are run by Worcestershire Health and Care Trust, also enjoyed a strong showing.

Patient assessors particularly praised the cleanliness of the hospitals, with Pershore and Evesham Community Hospitals both scoring 99 per cent and Malvern a spotless 100 per cent.