The James Paget University Hospital has been given a vote of confidence by outpatients, after it received a positive rating for respect and dignity in a recent survey.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) national survey of NHS outpatients included responses from 508 James Paget patients, who were treated in April or May last year and answered questions which were scored on a scale from zero to 10, with a high score being good and a low score being poor.

The Gorleston hospital was rated as 'about the same' as the majority of other hospitals surveyed in each of areas of the survey. However, following last year's critical CQC inspections, which originally focused on dignity and nutrition, the outpatients' score of 9.3 out of 10 for respect and dignity will come as a welcome boost for staff.

Scores for patients' satisfaction with their visit was 8.8 at the James Paget, compared to were 9.1 out of 10 at the N&N, which had a respect and dignity score of 9.6.

The overall standard of care was rated at 8.7 for the N&N and 8.5 at the James Paget.

One area at the Gorleston hospital that received a low score involved patients not being told how long they would have to wait for their appointment once they were in their out-patient clinic.

Chief executive Wendy Slaney said: 'The CQC out-patient survey does show high levels of patient satisfaction and we're especially pleased that privacy and respect scored so highly.

'It's important to learn from our patients and that is why these surveys are so important. For example, this year's survey does show that we need to improve on communications with patients about how long they might have to wait in clinic.'

The full results for each hospital can be viewed at the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.