MOST patients rate care at the town's hospital as excellent or very good.

They gave their views about hospital and primary care trust services as part of a nationwide survey.

More than 800 former patients of Warrington Hospital completed the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) questionnaire about their experiences in the accident and emergency department and the outpatient department, while more than 450 patients answered questions about primary care services.

The majority of people responding to questions about A&E and the outpatient department said they rated the care as excellent or very good.

Kath Holbourn, director of nursing and service development, said: "This information will help to make our services more patient focused because it will enable us to track the experiences of our former patients.

"It will also help to develop a detailed picture across the country of patients' experiences in hospital."

Warrington Primary Care Trust was among the best performing 20 per cent of trusts nationwide in areas including the length of time people waited to see a health professional in a GP surgery, and dental care also scored highly.

Areas recognised for improvement included raising awareness of how people can get involved in making decisions about the NHS in their area, and the Your Guide to Local Health Services booklet, circulated to Warrington households, is tackling this.

Robin Brown, chairman of Warrington PCT, said: "It is particularly gratifying - and a vote of confidence in our staff - that we have received such encouraging feedback from those who have experienced our treatment and care at first hand.

"We will use these comments to address any emerging issues and inform how we fund and provide services to meet the needs of our local population now and in the future."