Trust will work hard to regain three star status

24th July, 2002

The West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust will be working hard to regain its three star status, says its new chief executive John Parkes.

"We are very disappointed to have lost our three stars but I see this as a wonderful opportunity to take stock, regroup and work with our colleagues in Suffolk West Primary Care Trust and in health and social care to ensure that we are recognised as a top performing Trust once again," he said.

Accepting that the issue was not just about finance - the Trust reported an overspend of £936,000 in the last financial year - Mr Parkes said that efforts would also be concentrated on other areas such as reducing the number of people on the Trust's waiting list as well as the time that people are having to wait and the level of cancelled operations.

The assessment is based upon the year April 2001 to March 2002 and while the organisation had hit six of the nine key targets, including no one waiting more than 15 months for an operation, the number of people on the list had grown in the year.

"However, what the indicators make clear is that in a number of areas the quality of care that people receive is excellent," said Mr Parkes. "As well as the key indicators, we scored average or better in all of the clinical focus indicators. We now have to do better in the patient focus indicators which are about the size and length of waiting lists and how we manage our services."

Mr Parkes, who joined the Trust in February this year, added: "We have already started addressing these problems by initiating new management structures, improved ways of working and increasing performance."

The Trust would be working closely with Suffolk West PCT and social services to ensure that resources were being used most efficiently, including the sustainable funding of service developments and further reducing the number of delayed discharges in order to increase the use of beds.

"All these factors are interconnected," he said. "We need to make sure that we are using our resources - money, beds, staff - as effectively as possible. If we can do that our performance will improve and so will our star rating.

"I am determined that we will be a three star trust once again, providing a five star service. The award of three stars was a great compliment to our staff and services but this has to be earned and we will bounce back."