Significant achievements in past year

Paul Bentley, Acting Chief Executive at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust has written to all staff working at the two hospitals to praise them for achievements during the year just ended - 2007/08 – and to set out the challenges for the forthcoming year, 2008/09.  

The letter identifies some of the key achievements of 2007/08, the year just ended as:

·          Control of infections with the lowest MRSA bacteremia rates in Surrey and a significant reduction in the rate of Clostridium difficile;

·          Achievement of the March 31st milestones for patients seen and treated within 18 weeks – the Trust achieved 88% (milestone 85%) of admitted and 93% (milestone 90%) of non-admitted patients¹;

·          Hitting the target for 98% of patients to be seen, admitted or discharged from emergency services (including A&E at St. Peter’s and the NHS Walk-in Centre at Ashford)²; and

·          Managing finances so that a surplus is created to repay previous borrowing.

Mr Bentley said: “Without dedicated staff we could not provide the level of service that patients and our local community expect and deserve.  The reorganisation of our management structure to give our Clinical Directors a much greater say in the way Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals are run has been significant and one of the key reasons why we are now hitting many of the national and local targets set for the NHS.   I recognise that the issue of charging staff for car parking has raised a number of concerns and I am pleased to say that we have decided that we will not be doing this at the present time.   We are continuing to look at ways we can improve the parking arrangements at St. Peter’s and expect in the near future to demolish further sections of the second world war Ramp buildings.”

The letter also identifies challenges for the future including:

·          Concluding the discussions on whether merger with Frimley Park Hospital is the best way for Ashford and St. Peter’s to become an NHS Foundation Trust;

·          Delivering on the expectations of patients and increasing levels of satisfaction;

·          Meeting all statutory and national targets for 2008/09; and

·          Improvements to and increasing the use of the Ashford Hospital site.

Mr Bentley continued: “Whilst we face more challenges in the coming year I believe that we will be even more successful in 2008/09 but we must always keep in the forefront of our minds that without the patients we serve, the Trust has no purpose.”

Notes to the figures above:

^1.           The September 2008 targets for 18 weeks are 90% for admitted patients and 95% for non-admitted patients.

^2.           The 98% achievement in emergency services includes the Walk-in Centres managed by Surrey PCT at Weybridge and Woking Commmunity Hospitals.