Named as one of the best hospitals in the country for inpatient care

We have once again been named as one of the top NHS Trusts in the country for inpatient care, according to the Care Quality Commission Adult Inpatient Survey 2025.

The annual survey looks at the experiences of people who stayed at least one night in hospital. It asked patients aged 16 years and over for their views on all aspects of their care, with more than 50 questions including topics such as:

• the hospital environment, including cleanliness and noise
• privacy
• food
• communication with staff
• involvement in decisions
• being treated with dignity and respect

Royal Papworth is one of eight hospitals to have achieved the highest rating of ‘much better than expected’, which is based on the proportion of patients who responded positively compared to the national average. 

It is the seventh year-in-a-row that we have been named in the top category. 

On average, patients rated the overall experience as 9.3 out of 10, an increase from 9.1 the previous year.

Other scores that saw a statistically significant increase in 2025 compared to 2024 were:

• being treated with kindness and compassion (9.7, up from 9.5)
• discussing further health and social care needs after hospital discharge (9.2, up from 8.5)
• who to contact once leaving hospital (9.2, up from 8.8)
• getting hold of a member of staff when you needed attention (9.4, up from 9.2)
• help from staff when washing or keeping clean (9.5, up from 9.1)
• Our hospital scored 9.8 out of 10 for cleanliness, getting enough to drink and privacy, with 9.7 being awarded by patients for confidence and trust in the doctors, being treated with kindness and compassion and being treated with respect and dignity.

Dr Matthew Hodson, Chief Nursing Officer at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We’re delighted to see our patients give such a vote of confidence in our services and care, with many areas showing a considerable improvement on 12 months ago.

“There are and always will be areas where we can do even better. This is part of our deep ambition to continuously improve for our patients and communities.

“But these scores are only possible through the hard work of our talented and dedicated colleagues. I want to thank all of our teams for delivering excellent and compassionate patient care every day, something I’ve seen first hand since joining the trust earlier this year.”

Eilish Midlane, Chief Executive at Royal Papworth Hospital, added: “We're incredibly grateful to every patient who took the time to complete the CQC Adult Inpatient Survey and give us such a positive rating.

“Achieving and sustaining such high standards is a clear reflection of the exceptional care our teams provide every single day. I’m incredibly proud of what they do every day.

“Our commitment to our patients is to use this feedback to maintain those areas where we are performing well, but also spend time learning and improving in areas where we would like to score higher. This is not just about chasing scores, but by doing so it gives us confidence that we are focusing on the right things for our communities.”