Outpatients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn have given medical staff a vote of confidence in a national survey.

Health chiefs say that puts the QEH in the Top 20pc of NHS hospital Trusts for inspiring 'confidence and trust' in doctors and other healthcare professionals.

The figures are contained in the 2011 Outpatient Department Survey published today by health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

QEH outpatients rated the hospital highly for starting appointments close to the appointed time, explaining prescribed medication properly – and dealing with their medical problem satisfactorily.

The 51-question survey was carried out almost a year ago and co-ordinated for the CQC by the Picker Institute.

It covered areas such as 'seeing a doctor', 'tests and treatment', 'hospital and environment' and 'overall impression'.

In the majority of answers the QEH rating placed it within the intermediate 60pc of Trusts, indicating that patients were largely satisfied with the standard of treatment and care they received.

The trust also received scores in the 'worst performing' 20pc of Trusts for some issues, for example in explaining risks of procedures in an understandable way and telling patients who to contact if they have any worries about their condition after they have left hospital.

Gwyneth Wilson, director of Nursing for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS, said: 'The survey gives reassurance that in the key areas our standard of care of patients is good and in some cases is well above average and amongst the best in the country.

'However, we accept that additional work is needed in some areas to improve our performance, particularly in keeping patients well-informed, and we have been working hard to achieve that.'