THREE Merseyside hospitals have topped the country in an annual patient survey.

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Liverpool Women’s all gained top marks in sections of the Care Quality Commissions (CQC) 2009 annual in-patient survey.

The poll of 69,000 patients nationally looks at issues such as cleanliness, waiting times and levels of care.

The information is used to monitor performance in the NHS.

Clatterbridge received the best mark in England in 14 of the 39 questions asked and Liverpool Heart and Chest topped the poll in nine, including the highest mark for overall care. The Women’s got top marks in four areas.

Most other hospitals in the region scored well in the survey, and improvements have been made on last year’s marks.

For the past two years, the survey showed food at Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals to be among the worst in the country, but this year the mark has shot up, thanks to an overhaul of menus and cooking methods.

The hospitals also scored within the top 20% on eight areas including cleanliness and communication between staff and patients.

The Walton Centre scored within the top 20% of hospitals in 24 areas, but fell into the bottom 20% for aspects of written correspondence to patients and how staff explain, and answers questions about operations.

Fazakerley Hospital scored good or average marks in most areas but fell within the bottom 20% for mixed sex accommodation and waiting times for beds.