Satisfaction with services provided by the NHS is generally high, finds one of the biggest ever surveys of patients in England—with 90% of respondents rating their overall care in hospitals as “excellent”, “very good,” or “good.”

Findings on cleanliness were also encouraging: 93% of patients said that their room or ward was “very clean” or “fairly clean.”

The survey of more than 80 000 patients from 167 trusts, which was carried out last autumn for the NHS standards watchdog the Healthcare Commission, found considerable variation in how acute trusts performed …