Nearly 96 per cent of patients using West Middlesex Hospital's A&E ward would recommend it to family and friends - one of the highest figures in the country.

The NHS friends and family test was introduced last April to see how many patients would recommend hospitals to their nearest and dearest should they require similar treatment.

Since then, 2,957 patients have had their say about the care they received in the emergency department of West Mid, in Isleworth, with 95.8 per cent saying they would be either 'extremely likely' or 'likely' to recommend it.

That puts it 11th out of 143 hospital trusts in England when it comes to positive feedback, while the 1.4 per cent of patients who would be 'unlikely or extremely unlikely to recommend' the hospital is one of the lowest figures nationally.

A West Mid spokesman said: "We are delighted that patients attending our A&E department have rated it as one of the best in the country for user satisfaction.

"This reflects the hard work of all our staff at the hospital over the past year to improve the patient experience."

He added that recent measures to improve patient care at the hospital included:

* increasing staffing levels during the busy winter period

* working with the King's Fund to support those with chest pain

* introducing innovative technology to allow clinicians to access GP records, thus improving continuity of care

* launching a 'befriender' scheme in which volunteers support patients who are on their own

* working with the British Red Cross to check up on vulnerable patients when they return home

The hospital's success in the new ratings measure comes despite figures showing the number of patients waiting more than four hours to be treated at its A&E ward have risen by a third in the last year.