HOSPITALS in Kennet and North Wiltshire have come out with top marks for cleanliness and good food in a national survey.

Savernake, Chippenham, Malmesbury and Devizes hospitals are among 81 hospitals from all over the country to be graded 'green' for standards of both cleanliness and food hygiene.

They were all inspected by a Patient Environment Action Team, made up of volunteers from within the NHS and from patient groups.

The Kennet and North Wilts Primary Care Trust, which has responsibility for running the hospitals, received a 'double green' rating for each hospital, meaning that its premises are clean and healthy. It is one of a very small number of PCTs to have all its hospitals in that category.

Tim Boucher, chairman of the PCT, said: "This is a well-deserved enormous pat on the back for the catering and facilities staff who do a tremendous job."

West Wiltshire PCT also came out well; its hospitals at Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Warminster, Melksham and Westbury also achieved double green ratings.

The latest figures, announced last week, represent a considerable improvement in standards nationwide, according to health minister, Lord Philip Hunt.

Nearly 60 per cent of hospitals, amounting to 464, now have good standards of cleanliness and have been graded green under the latest 'traffic light' ratings, while the remaining 40 per cent (317) have achieved acceptable standards of cleanliness and are rated yellow, a significant improvement from three years ago when 35 per cent, or 253, were considered poor.

Results from NHS food inspections show that 118 hospitals one in six offer meals of good quality and 554, amounting to 81 per cent of them, have an acceptable standard of catering.

Only two per cent of hospitals provided poor food.