Health Check results good for St George’s
ST GEORGE’S has been listed in the top 36 per cent of the best NHS Trust’s in the country for our quality of service in the national Annual Health Check, independently run by the Health Commission.
St George’s was given an overall rating of ‘good’ for the quality of its service and ‘weak’ for its use of resources, but this latter score was to be expected as Marie Grant, the Trust’s Interim Chief Executive explains:
“St George’s has shown a very strong performance. Our staff have delivered a consistent and superior calibre of care for our patients and I am pleased to see this reflected in the Annual Health Check.
“We have met all national targets for patient safety and providing access to treatment, and we were graded as ‘excellent’ for meeting all government targets that have been introduced over the past year, including surveying inpatients to judge their experience of services, providing quicker access to MRI and CT scans, and reducing the number of MRSA infections on our wards.
“But our current financial deficit meant that the Trust automatically received a score of ‘weak’ for our use of resources. This should not overshadow our achievements. The Trust is making clear and steady progress to reduce this deficit and bring the organisation back into financial balance.”
Out of all 570 NHS Trusts in the country, St George’s was listed in the top 36 per cent for quality of service. Only four per cent of Trust’s were rated as ‘excellent.’
“We are not complacent,” says Marie. “There is more we need to do to make sure we further improve the quality and efficiency of our services. Our patients deserve nothing less.
“We are working hard to resolve our deficit, and from the feedback from this year’s Annual Health Check, we have identified other challenges that must be addressed, for example making sure that if operations be cancelled, patients are readmitted within 28 days of cancellation without failure.”
Thanking staff for their hard work and dedication, Marie added:
“The results of this year’s Health Check is an achievement all at St George’s should be proud of. The expertise, compassion and commitment of our staff make St George’s the fine institution that it is today, and with continued effort in next year’s Health Check we can and will go even higher.”
The Annual Health Check replaces the old NHS star rating system to assess the performance of all NHS organisations in the country. This assessment is done independently by the Healthcare Commission and includes the views and opinions of the hospital’s stakeholders, including the health overview and scrutiny committee and the patient and public involvement forum.
As part of the new assessment, all NHS organisations are scored on their performance in two areas: the quality of services, and the effective use of resources. The performance for all are graded weak, fair, good or excellent.
For more information about the Annual Health Check please visit www.cqc.org.uk
Notes to editors
- For further information please contact the St George’s Communications Unit on 0208 725 5151.
- At the end of financial year 2004/05 St George’s reported a deficit of £21.7m. At the end of FY 2005/06 that had fallen to an in-year deficit of £11.6m. By the close of 2007/08 the Trust is committed to achieving financial balance.
- Full details of the Healthcare Commission’s findings can be found at http://annualhealthcheckratings.healthcare
commission.org.uk/annualhealthcheckratings.cfm
