Standard of care in North rated best in the country

Oct 15 2009 by Joanne Butcher, The Journal

NORTH healthcare has been rated the best in the country. Ratings released today by independent watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show the quality of NHS services in the North East.

Every single hospital in the region, as well as the ambulance service, is rated ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ for quality of services – by far the highest score in England.

And 58% of primary care trusts achieved a ‘good’ rating, compared with just 51% nationally.

The annual health check assesses the performance of NHS organisations.

Standards are measured by looking at access to GP and dental appointments, screening and immunisation rates, waiting times, patient satisfaction, and cost effectiveness.

Some of this year’s new criteria also looked at how PCTs are working to improve the overall health and wellbeing of local populations.

Each organisation is rated on a scale from ‘excellent’ to ‘weak’, for quality of services and use of resources.

Eighteen of the 23 NHS organisations in the North East were rated ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ for use of resources – financial management and budgeting.

And the region’s two mental health trusts were rated ‘excellent’ for use of resources and ‘good’ or ‘fair’ for quality of services.

David Stout, acting chief executive for NHS North East, said: “Today’s results give a clear indication of the quality of our local NHS services and also show that we are using our money wisely on behalf of people in the North East. Once again, the positive results show that patients who need hospital care in this region will have access to the highest quality services in the country.