Conquest branded weak

Today (12th October), the Healthcare Commission has published its Annual Health Check for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust. The Annual Health Check has replaced the old 'star ratings' system and looks at a much broader range of issues than the targets used previously, and seeks to make much better use of the data to focus on measuring what matters to people who use and provide healthcare services. The rating is split into two parts and the Trust scored fair for Quality of Servic

The Healthcare Commission posed some common questions asked by patients and this Trust does really well in relation to these questions. For example:

How long will I wait?

We achieved 7 out of 9 of the core standards relating to waits.

How safe and clean is the hospital?

We achieved 11 out of 12 core standards relating to safety and cleanliness

How good is the care I will receive?

We achieved 4 out of 5 core standards relating to quality of care.

Will I be treated with dignity and respect?

We achieved all of the core standards relating to this question.

How well is this organisation managed?

We achieved 11 out of 12 of the core standards relating to how well our services are managed.

Kim Hodgson, Trust Chief Executive, said, "These new ratings measure performance during 2005/6 and do not truly reflect the tremendous progress and turnaround we have made in the second half of last year and the first half of this year. Staff have worked hard to achieve reductions in the time patients have to wait, reductions in cancelled operations and speedier cancer care. Our 'weak' score for use of resources is as a result of having a financial deficit carried over from previous years. We have now achieved in year balance, which has meant a great deal of work by all staff to cut down on waste and inefficiencies but still have this historical debt to deal with, in common with many NHS organisations."