More than a third of hospital staff at a Kent trust say bosses are not putting patient care first, a survey has revealed.

Barely half of employees at East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust say they would be happy with the standard of care if their friends and family were admitted to the hospitals.

The feedback makes it one of the worst hospital staff satisfaction surveys in the country.

The trust runs William Harvey, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (QEQM), Kent and Canterbury, Buckland and the Royal Victoria hospitals.

Out of the 3,700 staff who completed the survey, 36% believe the trust does not put the care of patients first.

At the trust board meeting today, head of human resources Sandra Le Blanc said: “The results are very disappointing.

“Last year was a very difficult year for our staff where we had the enforced move of the acute ward from Kent and Canterbury Hospital over to William Harvey and QEQM.

“We have also had an extremely challenging winter.

“I’m not saying there aren’t any issues but what I’m saying is it was an unprecedented year of change.

“Our results are so poor it puts us virtually at the bottom of all acute trusts in England.”

According to the annual survey, 57% of staff recently felt under pressure to go to work despite being unwell and 75% were working more than their contracted hours.

"Our results are so poor it puts us virtually at the bottom of all acute trusts in England" - Sandra Le Blanc

Board member Nigel Mansley said: “One thing that struck me like a sledgehammer to the head was comments about the sense that we are too bureaucratic and not putting the patients first.

“I do believe when we get that right, that will require a big culture change but this won’t happen overnight.

“From experience it does have to come from the top and then cascade down.”

Chair of the trust, Professor Stephen Smith, admitted the results were disappointing.

He said: “The message from our staff is being heard loud and clear like a megaphone and we need to now put this into action.

“We must do something about it. We cannot continue with this level of staff satisfaction.”

He described the fact 50% of staff completed the survey as “encouraging”.

He said: “The main point raised by the staff is that they feel they are not able to deliver the care they want to give.

“In our last CQC report, our care was outstanding and you must never lose that in a hospital.”