This is one of the findings in a patient survey published by the Healthcare Commission.
According to the report, more than 40 per cent of people who had been treated at Tameside, Salford Royal and Wrightington, Wigan, had been discharged without knowing what warning signs would suggest a relapse or complications.
More than a third of Bolton, Central Manchester and Manchester Children's Hospitals (CMMC), Pennine, South Manchester and Trafford patients also complained about a lack of information.
The commission's report included food, hygiene, delayed discharges and the way doctors speak to patients.
Most patients were satisfied with the care they received. Ninety-four per cent of patients at the Christie rated their care as excellent or very good, the highest rate in the region. Patients from CMMC and the Stockport Foundation Trust recorded the lowest levels of satisfaction, with 75 per cent ranking their care as excellent or very good.
Anna Walker, chief executive of the commission, said: "Hospital staff should take heart patients are rating their care so highly."
One in five patients at Tameside, Trafford, Stockport Pennine and Bolton claimed doctors didn't wash their hands between touching patients. Around a third of patients from Tameside, CMMC, Salford Royal and Trafford said doctors sometimes talked in front of them as if they weren't there.
A quarter of patients at CMMC said they didn't get enough help to eat their meals. And almost half of patients at Tameside, South Manchester and Trafford said there weren't always or nearly always enough nurses on the wards.
A spokesman for Tameside and Glossop said: "We take the results of all surveys extremely seriously."
A spokesman for Trafford said: "We have developed action plans to address any areas of concern highlighted by the report."
A spokesman for CMMC added: "Monthly surveys are carried out on the wards, which produce generally positive results." Tweet
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Just under 5 years ago I had a stroke which was still happening when I got to hospital.Most people who have strokes by the time they get to hospital it is over and the doctors have to deal with the after problems. In my case they asked my wife if they could try a new drug or placebo as part of a controlled experiment.They told her we would be told at the end of the experiment what had been done.We are still waiting but I am here to tell the tale so something worked.
I can understand that sometimes patients think the are being "talked over",but sometimes instructions are given to nursing staff in "hospitalese",i.e,acronym rich language which speeds everything up: there is no excuse,however,for doctors or other clinical staff not discussing matters openly (and privately),with the patient.
Nurses, and doctors to a large extent, no longer have time to explain anything to the patient. They are now too busy chasing results for the benefit of remote managers who, in turn, keep them completely in the dark. Mushroom Management is still alive and well in the health service. This is a pity because it is the patient who should be alive and well...or it was during the thirty years I spent nursing.