PATIENTS think services are improving at Bradford's two main hospitals, according to new figures, but are less impressed with Airedale Hospital.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital - saw patient satisfaction increase year-on-year in three out of four categories in a system that assesses the quality of hospital environments.

Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) ask hospital-users to rate cleanliness; food and hydration; privacy, dignity and wellbeing and condition, appearance and maintenance. A new measure this year also covers dementia.

If a health organisation scored 100 per cent, it means they received top marks from all patients, said a spokesman for the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which published the results yesterday.

The Foundation Trust improved in cleanliness (98.1 per cent), food (80.7 per cent) and privacy, dignity and well-being (85.3 per cent), but saw a drop in satisfaction with condition, appearance and maintenance at 86.3 per cent. Cleanliness was above the national average of 97.57, but the other three were below the average. Dementia care was scored at 80.7 per cent, which was rated for the first time this year, was above the national average of 74.51.

The Foundation Trust's interim chief nurse, Jackie Ardley, said: "We are constantly working to enhance our care environment and the continued involvement of our patient assessors is invaluable in allowing us to view our hospitals from a patient’s perspective.

"I am delighted that our cleanliness score has improved across all our sites from last year to over 98 per cent, and our dementia score is also well above the national average."

She thanked staff for their hard work.

Bradford District Care Trust - which is made up of Lynfield Mount Hospital, Daisy Hill House, Airedale Centre for Mental Health and Ward 24 at Airedale Hospital - scored slightly less than last year in every category apart from a near-perfect score of 98.9 per cent for its food.

It also scored above the national average in each of the five sections apart from cleanliness, which was given 96.5 per cent.

Andrew Morris, deputy director of estates and facilities, said: "Having a safe, clean and comfortable environment can make a huge difference in helping service users to feel better. We are very pleased our PLACE results are telling us we are achieving this."

He said it would consider the recommendations.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust suffered a more than 16 per cent year-on-year drop, to 77.2 per cent, in the condition, appearance and maintenance category. It improved in food (95 per cent) but dropped in the other two. Its dementia care was rated above the national average at 77.4 per cent.

Stacey Hunter, director of operations at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said the organisation welcomed the audit as an opportunity to view the hospital through patients' eyes.

“The results and comments made have been taken very seriously as they highlight to us any needs and expectations of our patients which are not being met. We are working with our Patient Environment Action Group on an action plan to address them.

"The slight reduction in scores this year is due in part to a change of criteria for assessment and the audit focusing on areas of the hospital that have yet to be refurbished."