THE NHS trust that runs Okehampton and Moretonhampstead Hospitals has been ranked among the best trusts in the country by its own staff, according to the latest nationwide survey.

The annual look at what NHS staff think of life at work, covering 2013, also highlights significant improvements since 2012. According to its staff, the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust ranks in the best fifth of trusts in numerous areas, including providing equal opportunities for career progression or promotion, effective team working, and job satisfaction.

Darryn Allcorn, interim director of personnel and organisational development, said: 'A lot of work has gone into making sure staff get the support and help they need to provide the very best patient care.

'For us, there is an absolute correlation between the experience of staff and the experience of patients and we will be looking at both the strong and weaker results to ensure we fully understand the experience of our staff.

'We are really pleased to see that our efforts are producing steady improvements, year on year, for our staff. It's good to look around as well sometimes, to see how we're faring within the wider NHS.

'To be rated above average or in the top fifth of trusts on more than three-quarters of all the questions says something about the enthusiasm and dedication of people within the trust. And that enthusiasm and dedication pays dividends for patients.'

The full NHS Staff Survey results for 2013 can be viewed at http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com">www.nhsstaffsurveys.com