Trust hits performance targets and patients feel the benefit

April 6^th 2004

The West Suffolk Hospitals NSH Trust has met its key clinical performance targets for 2003-2004.

It means that more people have been seen and treated more quickly than ever before despite a significant rise in emergency admissions and operations.

“This is very good news for the people of West Suffolk,” said Trust chairman Veronica Worrall. “Our staff have been working extremely hard to bring about even better levels of health care. It means that in the last two years we have halved the maximum length of time that people have to wait for their operation.”

The performance figures for the end of March mean that during 2003/04:

• No patient waited more than nine months for an operation

• No-one waited more than 17 weeks for their first outpatient appointment

• 90% of people who visited the accident and emergency department were seen, treated or discharged within four hours

• All people referred by their GPs to the hospital with suspected cancer were seen within two weeks.

The hospital produced the best A&E waiting time figures in the Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area in March, with 97% of people being seen within four hours.

“This has been due to the enormous effort and commitment of staff involved in emergency care across the hospital,” said Nichole Day, Director of Nursing and Community Relations.

It means that the Trust will qualify for a £100,000 reward from the Department of Health to invest in equipment to further improve patient care and performance.

“The residents of west Suffolk can have confidence in their hospital and be proud of the people who work here. They have one of the best hospitals in the country providing them with responsive, high quality health care,” said Mrs Worrall, who is leading the trust’s application to become a NHS Foundation Trust hospital.

If it is successful the Trust will have greater freedom to make further investments to improve and develop services and greater accountability to its local community. Since launching its application to become a NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital has received more than 8,000 expressions of interest from members of the public in becoming a member of the new organisation and is continuing to recruit members.