Trust delighted at three star news

16 July 2003

Staff at the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust are celebrating regaining their three star status in the NHS star ratings which were announced today (Wednesday 16 July).

"This is the best possible news we could have had.  We first gained three star status two years ago and last year we experienced a temporary blip when we lost two stars as a result of missing our financial target. This year, thanks to the sustained hard work and commitment of our excellent staff, we are back on track and everyone in the local community can be proud of this success.  I believe that as a result of all of the work undertaken we are in a much stronger position today, compared with 18 months ago, to sustain our three star status." said Trust Chief Executive John Parkes

The trust met eight of the nine key targets and was marked as having average or better performance in 29 of 32 categories it was judged against.

"These improvements are not just about numerical targets they make a real difference to patients," said Mr Parkes. "For example, more patients are being seen by a cancer specialist in outpatient clinics within two weeks of referral by their GP. By March 2003 99% of patients were seen within two weeks, 12 months ago it was just 78%. Similarly, the Trust is also performing significantly above average with regard to reducing the rates of MRSA (methycillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection thanks to rigorous infection control procedures. This is good news for our patients and it says a great deal about the care provided by staff, which is of the highest quality.

“The Trust will carry on improving services and for example, by October we will have nine orthopaedic consultants in post thanks to the successful appointment of an additional three consultants this year. Also, over the last 18 months there has been a 20% increase in the number of nursing staff. This together with investment in facilities means that we are in a great position to build on our success, continue to improve services and most importantly maintain our three star status," added Mr Parkes.

As a three star trust, West Suffolk Hospitals has the opportunity to apply to become a foundation hospital.

"All our efforts have been concentrated on improving services and performance to regain our three stars.  We will now study the options before us and discuss them at board level before making any decisions," said Mr Parkes.

Editor's note:

Performance ratings for NHS trusts in England, covering the year ending March 2003, are  produced and published by CHI, the Commission for Health Improvement. You can find a full list of the results on the CHI website: www.ratings.chi.nhs.uk, including the Trust Report.