NINE out of ten patients have given St Helena Hospice and its staff the highest possible recommendation, latest figures show.

The hospice’s service user group spoke to patients and their families who had used the service in 2014 and asked for their opinions on treatment received at the inpatient unit, the Joan Tomkins centre, in Colchester, and the Tendring Centre in Clacton.

People who had care at home were also consulted.

Mark Jarman-Howe, chief executive at St Helena Hospice, said: “We are very happy with the results of the 2014 patient survey. It is a great way to really get an insight into what patients think of the services we provide and how we can look to improve them in the future.

“Without the hardworking staff and volunteers, none of this would be possible so I’d like to thank everyone including the service user group for their commitment to the hospice.”

Mr Jarman-Howe said the results were extremely positive.

One patient, talking about the service, said: “I cannot fault this wonderful service”.

The results showed 91 per cent of people rated the response of the hospice’s SinglePoint call as excellent. It has only been in operation for 14 months.

Impressions of the hospice staff also scored highly with 97 per cent of patients responding “always” when asked whether hospice staff acted in a professional manner, which included introducing themselves and treating patient and carers with respect.

Ken Aldred, chair of St Helena Hospice’s service user group, said: “Knowing several changes to patient services have taken place this year, and some find any change somewhat unsettling, the user group was expecting the 2014 patient survey to reflect this.

“To our surprise, there were very few comments concerning the changes and, as usual, the majority of comments confirmed how much patients and their families appreciate the help and support they receive.

“We get much satisfaction from working with the hospice management and staff on any suggestions made for improving the services while reminding them patients already rate them very highly indeed.

“We congratulate them all on another excellent year's results.”