POOLE Hospital is one of the top five hospitals in the country which staff would recommend to either work or receive care at.

Along with the patient ‘Friends and family test the NHS staff survey is regarded as a significant indicator of a hospital’s effectiveness as the anonymised survey is often used by workers to flag up failings.

Poole scored one of the highest ratings in the country - 4.01- against other acute hospital trusts in England - average score 3.75- for staff being likely to recommend it to others.

Overall staff satisfaction improved, in particular in terms of staff motivation and feeling valued by their manager. Staff also rated highly the quality of training on offer and the fact that they have equal opportunities to progress their career.

In total, Poole Hospital is performing in the top 20 per cent of hospitals nationally in nearly half of the 32 areas covered by the annual survey, improving on the results for last year.

Debbie Fleming, chief executive, said: “I am delighted that staff across the hospital have rated us so highly in respect of the areas that we know to be very important – such as their level of job satisfaction, their ability to deliver high quality patient care, and achieving a good work/life balance.

The Royal Bournemouth Hospital was also ranked in the top 20 percent of hospitals for this measure, with an overall score of 3.96 out of a possible 5.

More than 90 per cent of staff agreed that their role makes a difference to patients and service users, with 78 per cent reporting effective team working. More than 80 per cent were satisfied with their level of responsibility and involvement.

This year more members of RBCH staff completed the survey compared with previous years, with 73 per cent saying they would recommend RBCH as a place to work against an acute trust average of 61 per cent. Staff also gave a vote of confidence to standards of care at the Trust, with 81 per cent recommending RBCH as a place to receive treatment against an acute trust average of 71 per cent.

Both hospitals are the subject of a proposed merger, which is currently the subject of a judicial review bid.

*A national survey for the Royal College of Physicians claimed the NHS was being 'pushed to its limits' with nearly two thirds of doctors now agreeing that patient safety has deteriorated over the past year.

According to the RCP four out of five -80 per cent - are worried about the ability of their service to deliver safe patient care in the next 12 months.

Even more - 84 per cent - believe that the workforce is demoralised by the increasing pressures on the NHS.

Its latest report, NHS Reality Check Update 2018, saw more than 1,500 doctors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland given the same questions they were a year ago - and their responses indicated that the situation had become worse in nearly all areas of care.