A Sussex hospital trust provides the worst non-clinical support for disabled patients in England.

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was given the lowest patient satisfaction score of any hospital trust in the country.

Just 61 per cent of patients surveyed said they were satisfied with the disability support provided at the Queen Victoria Hospital, in East Grinstead, and other clinics run by the trust.

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at charity Disability Rights UK, said that staff levels play a vital role in the patient experience.

“Where staffing is under pressure, care and support becomes more transactional, as time for communication, personalised support and empathy is in short supply,” she said.

The patient-led assessment of the care environment is an annual survey of NHS patients who review the care they received across a variety of topics, including privacy, food, cleanliness and non-clinical disability support.

Non-clinical support includes accessibility, clear signage and other measures to support the needs of a disabled patient.

The trust’s new score was down from the 75 per cent of patients who said they were satisfied the previous year.

Nationally, 84 per cent of patients with a disability were satisfied with the level of non-clinical care they received last year – a slight increase of one per cent on the previous year.

The figures also showed non-clinical support for dementia patients at the QVH Trust was scored at 63 per cent.

Meanwhile, 78 per cent of patients were satisfied with the food supplied and 97 per cent were happy with the cleanliness.

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In February, Victoria Chalker, deputy chief scientific officer for NHS England, visited the Queen Victoria Hospital and praised staff for their “passion and efficiency”.

“I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the patients who has been coming to the hospital for the last 18 years and says it just keeps getting better and better and how respectful staff are when interacting with patients,” said Ms Chalker.

“You can really see this in action. Queen Victoria Hospital does so much for patients and has a long history of helping those in need and I’ve learnt a lot.”

A spokeswoman for Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "Patient-led assessments of the care environment (Place) deliver direct feedback from patients about how we could improve the hospital environment in areas like food, cleanliness, building maintenance, and considerations for people with dementia or disabilities.

"This year’s results are disappointing and we are already working on the ward and department level detail behind that to make sure we address the gaps promptly.

"The priority actions include reinforcing protected mealtimes on wards and bringing in an additional food trolley for swift food service, as well as updating signage across the site to meet dementia and disability requirements."