Two scores of ‘excellent’ achieved
PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed until 00.01 hours
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has achieved the highest possible rating of ‘excellent’, both for the quality of its services and for its financial management, in this year’s annual health check.
NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) Chairman Barbara Young, wrote to congratulate all Trust staff, commenting: “This assessment has shown that your trust has sustained high levels of performance throughout 2008/09 across a broad range of standards and indicators covering issues that patients and the public have said are important to them. The rating is derived from thousands of items of data, targeted inspections and intelligence gathered locally. We want to acknowledge the achievements of you and your staff and thank all of you for all that has been done on behalf of patients.”
The CQC health check is the most wide-ranging annual assessment of NHS performance that is carried out. To do well trusts must perform strongly across a variety of standards and targets. Last year Royal Brompton & Harefield achieved ‘excellent’ for its quality of services and ‘good’ for its financial management (previously called ‘use of resources’).
The ‘quality of services’ score covers areas including safety of patients, cleanliness and dignity and respect. Highlights of the Trust’s performance include:
- Standard of care: 7/7
- Safety and cleanliness: 14/14
- Dignity and respect: 9/9
- Keeping the public healthy: 4/4
Less than 10 per cent of trusts assessed achieved this accolade.
The ‘quality of financial management’ covers areas such as financial reporting, management and value for money. The CQC stated:
“This organisation has been given a score of excellent for its quality of financial management as a result of its strong consideration of value for money and its ability to meet its financial targets for at least the past three years. All other areas were assessed as good including financial management. The organisation has provided evidence of exceptional performance and innovation.”
Commenting on the news, Bob Bell, chief executive of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a particularly welcome achievement in our first year as a foundation trust and reflects our determination to provide the best possible specialist care for our patients at all times. We set ourselves high standards in everything that we do and always seek to improve and innovate.
“Without the dedication of our staff this achievement would not have been possible and I know that they will find it rewarding to see their hard work being recognised formally in this way. Receiving the best possible rating insuch a comprehensive review is a strong endorsement of how we deliver our specialist services currently, and of our future direction.”
Ends/
For further information, please contact:
Shima Islam,Head of media relations
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 020 7351 8672 (Brompton)
Tel: 01895 828 877 (Harefield)
Mobile: 07866 536 345
Email: S.Islam@rbht.nhs.uk
Notes to editors:
For all trusts that had foundation status at or before 31 March 2008, the assessment of their quality of financial management is based on financial risk ratings compiled by Monitor, the independent regulator of foundation trusts. Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust achieved its foundation status in May 2009. This means that the ‘quality of financial management’ for the Trust was assessed by the Audit Commission based on external auditors' local evaluation (ALE) made during statutory audits during the year.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. The CQC inspects all health and adult social care services in England, whether they're provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. Each year it assesses how well healthcare providers in England and Wales are meeting standards of care as set by the government. For more information on the Care Quality Commission and the 2008/09 annual health check performance ratings, visit http://www.cqc.org.uk/
