SALISBURY District Hospital and Swindon’s Great Western Hospital are rated above the national average by cancer patients for quality of care.

The percentage of people rating it as either excellent or good was 93 at Salisbury and 91 at GWH. The Royal United Hospital, Bath, had a rating of 88 per cent, which matched the national average. All three hospital’s care ratings had improved on the previous year.

The results, from the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey for 2012/13, show many improvements in all three hospitals.

On the question of patients having confidence and trust in all ward nurses GWH scored 75 per cent, Salisbury scored 73 and the RUH, 71.

GWH was in the lowest 20 per cent of hospitals for patients having confidence and trust in all doctors treating them, with a score of 82 per cent. For Salisbury it was 87 and at the RUH it was 85.

The RUH was in the lowest 20 per cent of hospitals for the time it took for patients to be referred to hospital, for information about support groups given to patients, doctors having the right notes with them and patients being offered a written assessment and care plan.

Salisbury was in the lowest 20 per cent of hospitals for patients being given the name of the clinical nurse specialist in charge of their care and for patients being offered a written assessment and care plan.

Helena Bridgman, lead for cancer services at Salisbury District Hospital, said: “It’s important that our patients have confidence in the care that we provide and that they receive good treatment in a sensitive and caring environment.

“Overall, our patients rated the care they received very highly and other aspects such as privacy and pain control were also strong points.”

Michael Willson, lead manager for cancer services at Great Western Hospital, said the hospital was in the top 20 per cent for providing clear information and advice to patients in several aspects of their care.

RUH spokesman Tim Edmonds said: “We are in the process of planning our new cancer centre and the feedback we receive from our patients is key to the design.”