Yeovil District Hospital named as one of the top ten hospitals in the country
Staff at Yeovil District Hospital are today celebrating the news that they work in one of the ten best performing hospitals in the country.
Yeovil District Hospital is the only Trust in the South-West, and one of just ten acute and specialist hospitals in the country, to receive a double 'Excellent' rating from the Healthcare Commission two years running.
The Health Secretary, Alan Johnson and Healthcare Commission, Chairman, Sir Ian Kennedy, have sent letters publicly congratulating Yeovil Hospital staff for their efforts to deliver quality healthcare to patients. In the letter they said: "Your organisation has achieved a level of performance that all Trusts should aspire to."
The report, published by the Healthcare Commission, judges all NHS trusts on the
quality of their services and their financial management - Yeovil was given an 'Excellent' rating for both. The report said: "Yeovil District Hospital continued to provide an excellent quality of services to patients having made significant improvements after the first year of the annual health check. The Trust has continued to be excellent at managing its finances."
The Healthcare Commission takes into account a number of factors when judging the hospital's performance including performance scores on national targets and the views of patients and the public. The hospital received the highest score and fully met all 43 core standards.
Chief Executive, Gavin Boyle said: "This is really down to a team effort. The staff here at Yeovil are incredibly devoted to their patients and have exceptionally high standards. I am proud to have the privilege of being part of this team.
"It is great to receive the accolade of being 'Excellent' but I am the first to admit that there is much more we can do to make our services even better. We will be continuing with our improvement programme and working hard to ensure we remain one of the best hospitals in the country - local people deserve nothing less."
The South West is the most improved NHS region, says the Healthcare Commission
86% of NHS organisations in the South West have improved in this year's Annual Health Check, highlighting better NHS services for local patients. NHS patients in the South West are now receiving amongst the best services and treatment in the country, following a year of significant progress.
Across the South West, NHS services have been transformed during the last year, with more than twice the number of NHS organisations achieving top scores ("excellent" or "good") from the independent watchdog, the Healthcare Commission.
Ian Biggs, the Healthcare Commission's Head of Region for the South West, said: "The NHS in the South West has demonstrated some real successes and this is to be celebrated. It is particularly notable that the South West has improved more than any other region in England on its quality of services. This is good news for patients and local people."
Top-performing Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the only NHS organisation in the South West and one of only ten acute and specialist hospitals in the country to achieve a double "excellent" rating for both quality of services and financial performance for the second year running. Others achieving double top scores this year are the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Other highlights for the South West include:
* There are no double "weak" ratings compared to six last year.
* Three NHS organisations were "excellent" for both quality of services and use of resources. Last year there was one.
* Five NHS organisations were "excellent" for quality of services and "good" for use of resources. Last year there were two.
* Six NHS organisations were "good" for quality of services and "excellent" for use of resources. Last year there were two.
* No NHS organisations were "weak" for use of resources. Last year there were ten.
* Three NHS organisations were "weak" for quality of services. Last year there were eight.
* Nationally 61% of NHS trusts were rated "excellent" or "good" this year - in the South West it was 73%.