YORK Hospital provides some of the best emergency services in the country, according to a national survey.

The 2003 Emergency Department Survey - a patient survey for all acute trusts - involved questioning hundreds of patients at the hospital on five "dimensions" of patient care.

These included access and waiting, information and choice and building relationships.

In the survey York Health Services NHS Trust was rated higher than the national average on 51 questions and rated average on the remaining 12 questions.

The survey revealed that patients in York were most impressed by how quickly they were treated and the manner in which they were treated.

York scored higher than other trusts because Accident and Emergency staff were kind and considerate, and kept patients and their families informed about their condition or treatment. According to the survey, patients found staff to be approachable and were reassured by the clarity of the explanations they received regarding diagnosis and treatment.

This confidence in staff reduced feelings of stress and anxiety that can be associated with a visit to A&E. Patients were also pleased to have somewhere comfortable to sit while they waited for treatment and were even more impressed with how clean the department was. Mike Proctor, director of nursing at the trust, said: "This is excellent news for the trust, and the staff who work hard to maintain such high standards of care.

"This survey shows that we are putting into practice the recommendations made in the NHS Plan. We are improving services while keeping the patient at the centre of healthcare."

Mr Proctor said there was still room for improvement and the trust plans to study the results of the survey in detail to identify problem areas. He said: "We are by no means complacent about these results, and have identified areas where we still need to improve.

"For example the survey revealed that patients still found it difficult to contact a member of staff during busy periods - that is a problem we need to address."

"We are delighted with the response from patients. We intend to build on the positive results of the survey and continue to improve emergency services."

Updated: 11:12 Saturday, May 31, 2003