HEALTH chiefs are implementing an action plan after Winchester hospital came in the bottom 20 per cent of several national performance targets.

Around 500 patients at Romsey Road's Royal Hampshire County Hospital responded to the Health Care Commission's annual national inpatient survey last October.

Out of 62 categories, the RHCH got 12 red marks, meaning it was in the lowest 20 per cent in the country, for things that included patients sleeping on mixed wards and sharing mixed bathroom facilities, patients feeling threatened during their stay at the hospital, security for personal belongings, and the cleanliness of the wards.

At a meeting of the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust board, Paula Shobbrook, deputy director of nursing, said an action plan had been put in place and was underway.

She said "We are a year on nearly. There are a lot of things in place to fix those things rated in red, but there is a lot to do and we recognise that."

Shirley Kenneally, of the Independent Public and Patient Involvement Forum, said: "We have had very few patients making criticisms to us.

"Really there seems to be a good standard at the hospital."

Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust board chairman Mike Gretton added: "I get favourable views about the care our staff give patients, and I particularly get comments from patients about people's kindness.

"That's what people are most positive about."

Chief executive Martin Wakeley said the survey was a "real pointer"

to what the hospital's patients felt.

He said: "Even if we have a red, green, or amber, if some of our patients are feeling threatened in our hospital we have to do something different."

Since the report the Trust has dramatically increased hand washing facilities across the RHCH, and, a spokesman added, the replacement of the carpet throughout the ward areas and the corridors has made a huge difference to the look and cleanliness.

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