A Norfolk hospital that was placed in special measures last year has seen its staff satisfaction results deteriorate.

A new leadership team was put in place at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn after a Care Quality Commission inspection criticised staffing levels.

The hospital trust was placed in the bottom 20% in the country for acute hospitals for the number of staff recommending the trust as a place to work or receive treatment and the percentage of workers reporting good communication between senior management and staff .

The number of physical assaults from patients, relatives or the public was higher (19%) than the national average, according to the 2013 NHS staff survey.

However, QEH staff have maintained their position in the highest 20% of NHS trusts for staff motivation at work.

Manjit Obhrai, chief executive, said: 'This has been a challenging time for the trust and the findings are similar to those in the 2012 survey. Those areas requiring improvement are already high on our agenda, with many initiatives already under way to improve our scores for next year.'

'These areas include improving communication between senior management and staff, and staff recommending the Trust as a place to work or receive treatment.

'We know good communication is the key to having engaged staff and one thing I have begun is a weekly blog, via the Trust intranet, to keep staff informed on current events and progress.'