STRESSED-out hospital staff say they would not want to be treated in their own wards. Shocking figures from a survey show that less

STRESSED-out hospital staff say they would not want to be treated in their own wards.Shocking figures from a survey show that less than a third of staff at Weston General Hospital would be happy with the standard of care they provide, if they were a patient.It has also been revealed that 34 per cent of staff think the service provided by Weston Area Health Trust, which runs the hospital, is inadequate.The findings were unveiled by Government watchdog the Healthcare Commission in its latest survey, and results show there are significant problems within the trust concerning staff communication, stress and abuse faced by staff at the Grange Road hospital.John Penrose, MP for Weston, admitted that it was worrying staff would not want to be treated in their own hospital. He said: "The figures will do nothing to reassure local residents the hospital is improving the way it should. "It is hardly surprising that our hard pressed medical professionals are suffering from rock bottom morale."Patient and Public Information Forum chairman, Fernley Symons, said: "I'm not happy that managers are doing the best things to help with the morale problem."The concerning figures will soon be discussed by North Somerset Council's health scrutiny committee. Chairman Ron Moon said the figures were 'cause for concern.'Staff also said in the survey they did not feel part of the running of the hospital and were not involved in major decisions with more than three quarters saying they are not involved in important choices faced by the trust. On the whole, only 14 per cent of staff agree that different parts of the trust communicate effectively with each other.The trust also came third highest out of a table of smaller hospital trusts with 38 per cent of respondents saying they suffered from work related stress.A spokesman for the trust said: "The number of emergency admissions to this hospital has increased significantly during the past year. This has put considerable pressure on staff and may have contributed to this result.