Many patients are being sent home from overcrowded hospitals without proper advice on the side effects of medication or how to look after themselves.
The failure of busy staff to communicate with patients in this crucial area is among the main grievances in the first 61-question National Patient Experience survey launched today.
Doctors are also so stretched that many patients who are in a hospital ward have little or no chance to talk to them about their worries and concerns, the findings show.
Seven in ten patients who need a hospital bed are being forced to wait hours on A&E trolleys with some enduring delays of two days.
