Patients laud praise on Heatherwood Hospital in NHS survey
Patients at Heatherwood Hospital have rated it as one of the best facilities in the area - despite the NHS deciding to scrap some of its key services.
The Ascot hospital scored 81 in the NHS Friends and Family Survey (FF) - which ranks hospitals on a scale from minus 100 to 100.
It comes after NHS bosses announced in March plans to scrap services at Heatherwood including the birth centre and a rehabilitation ward, and to move the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) to Bracknell.
The FF Survey asked 135 inpatients, within 48 hours of leaving the hospital, if they would recommend wards or A&E services to friends and family.
Each was asked to score their experiences on a five-point scale from 'extremely likely' to 'extremely unlikely', with 111 patients saying they were 'extremely likely' to recommend it, 23 'likely', and one neither likely or unlikely.
Heatherwood was ranked above the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Frimley Park Hospital and Wexham Park Hospital.
Cllr Lynda Yong, Royal Borough deputy cabinet member for health, said this showed Heatherwood is a 'prized facility' as it beat other hospitals in the area.
She added: "It defies belief that there are plans to deplete the services provided at this popular hospital."
Health chiefs are now asking for it to be considered by members of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
Cllr David Coppinger, cabinet member for adult services and health, said the council will continue its fight.
"The judicial review refusal is disappointing but it is far from the end of the story," he said.
"Our determination to save local services for local people is undimmed."
A spokeswoman for Heatherwood & Wexham Park Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was 'extremely pleased' with comments made by patients in the NHS FF survey.