PATIENTS across North Yorkshire say they happy with the level of care they receive and the length of time they have to wait for it.

According to a survey commissioned by local health bosses patients believe they are getting an excellent or good standard of care.

NHS North Yorkshire and York commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out the survey of patients’ experiences to understand how they felt about different aspects of their care.

It looked at a number of areas including quality of care, wait for treatment, choice of hospital or clinic at the time of referral from their GP, convenience of hospital appointments and non-clinical aspects of care such as privacy, cleanliness and how well care was explained by staff.

The results showed that: · 86 per cent of patients rated their care as excellent or good · 86 per cent of patients found it easy to arrange their first hospital appointment · 75 per cent were happy with the length of time they waited for treatment · 95 per cent attended their first choice of hospital · 98 per cent felt they were given privacy and respect · 94 per cent found their hospital or clinic was clean and in good condition · 91 per cent said their specialist explained clearly what would happen next in their treatment.

Director of performance and delivery Bill Redlin said: "We are really pleased with the results from this survey as they show that the majority of patients feel they are receiving a good standard of care and are not waiting more than 18 weeks before their first appointment.

"These results are a testament to the hard work of staff in our hospitals, clinics and GP surgeries."