SE1’s hospitals rated ‘excellent’; primary care 'good'

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust – which runs SE1's two NHS hospitals – has achieved the top rating possible – 'excellent' – compared to a 'good' rating last year.

The annual health check assesses the performance of every health trust in England and Wales and is split into two sections – one which measures the quality of services and another which assesses how well resources are used. Each trust is then given an overall score – excellent, good, fair or weak – on each.

"I am delighted that we have achieved the top award possible in this year's annual health check." says Ron Kerr, who recently took up his post as chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas'.

"It is particularly good to be recognised for both the high quality of our services and how well we manage our resources.

"Staff have worked extra hard this year to maintain these high quality clinical services for our patients while also to ensuring our finances are managed efficiently. Our success in this year's assessment is down to their hard work and reflects our commitment to continue to improve the care that every patient visiting the Trust receives.

"However, as ever, we recognise that there is always room for improvement and we are not complacent. In the coming weeks we will be using our scores on each individual indicator to look at where we can improve further."

Meanwhile the two primary care trusts covering SE1 – Southwark PCT and Lambeth PCT – both achieved 'good' ratings. Last year Southwark was rated 'fair' and Lambeth achieved 'good' status.

"Our double good rating shows that our hard work to improve performance over the past year is paying off," says Mee Ling Ng, chair of Southwark Primary Care Trust. "We are focused on improving the quality of care, making it quicker to access, more responsive and more convenient. We will continue to work hard to improve services even further in the coming year."