PATIENTS from the Ryedale and Scarborough area have given a thumbs-up to hospital services run by the area's NHS Trust.

The results of a patient survey, presented to the trust board yesterday, revealed that 98pc of those attending the accident and emergency department said their care was well organised, 96pc said their ward, on admission, was clean, and 97pc said they were treated with respect, said chief nurse Doreen Parker.

She added that 99pc were satisfied with the privacy they were given when being treated.

However, 60pc of those interviewed complained of noise at night, while others expressed concern about a shortage of nurses and delayed discharge from hospital.

"Overall the results are excellent," said Mrs Parker.

She said that action was now being taken to set up a plan to tackle areas of weakness which had been highlighted in the survey.

The board, meeting at Scarborough Hospital, was told by Gerry Nolan, director of finance, that there was a deficit of £1.3m in the trust's budget so far this financial year.

"The trust needs to make an impact on central savings to ensure some likelihood that a break-even position will be achieved for the year," he added.

Work is being carried out on a long list of possible savings, said Mr Nolan, working with the primary care trust as part of a "joint endeavour" to bring the trust back to a balanced position over the next three years.

"Given the trust's financial position and the need to repay £2.5m from 2001-2, it is inevitable that arrangements will need to be made to broker funds throughout the year," said Mr Nolan.

The health trust has received legacies totalling more than £300,000 between April and July for use in improvements at Scarborough general.

Two new consultant orthopeadic surgeons have been appointed, Mr J Livesey and Mr A Lavender, together with an anaesthetist, Dr J Crowson.

However, the appointment of medical staff remains a problem, says Dr Ian Holland, the medical director.

"We are continuing to explore all avenues available to us and we will be attending the International Recruitment Fair in York in the autumn."

He added that the trust had signed up to the Department of Health's drive for recruitment from Austrian medics.

Talks are underway to develop a plan to enable the refurbishment of Scarborough Hospital's theatres.

But says Colin Watts, the director of operations, each theatre will have to be "stood-down" in turn to complete the programme which is set to take six months.

"During this time, 25pc of theatre capacity will be lost. To offset this, a combination of three session working across theatres and transferring sessions to Bridlington, are being evaluated."

Updated: 10:45 Wednesday, September 11, 2002