HOSPITAL patients in Kent are too brave, according to a top nurse.

A survey carried out by within Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust showed that more than 66 per cent of patients complained of feeling pain while in hospital.

However, 85 per cent said they were being given enough medication.

Director of nursing Dr Bernard Place said: "Patients seem to think it is normal to be in pain. We need to educate patients and we need to educate staff.

"Patients need to stop being brave. It's not good for them to be in pain and our staff need to work more closely with patients to understand their pain and how to manage that."

In the survey 42 per cent of patients complained of severe pain, with 24 per cent complaining of feeling pain during their stay in hospital all or most of the time.

Dr Place said the survey had refocused the trust's pain management strategy.

He said: "It's focused the attention of clinical staff on the importance of pain management.

"We are going to work on the service and type of pain control systems and we are thinking about information patients need for pain management."

The trust is likely to widen the use of patient controlled analgaesia, a device which enables patients to administer their own pain control drugs through a drip.

Dr Place said: "We benchmarked our results with more than 100 hospitals across the country and we were no better or worse in all areas apart from the use of patient controlled analgaesia.

"Our investigations showed that the NHS in general is not very good on pain management."

More than 800 patients from Maidstone Hospital, Maidstone Ophthalmic and Aural Hospital, Pembury Hospital and the Kent and Sussex Hospital were surveyed.