Getting Here | Contact Us | A to Z of Services                          

                                            




You are here  : Home Press 2010 Press Releases 2010 Ashford St Peter's Licensed as a Foundation Trust
Ashford St Peter's Licensed as a Foundation Trust
Written by Communications Team   


Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals have been licensed today as a Foundation Trust by Monitor, the independent regulator of Foundation Trusts.

Chairman Aileen McLeish comments: “This is really good news for our patients, our staff and the local community and most importantly means we have been recognised as a high performing Trust. Above all, Monitor want to be assured that we offer high quality services that are safe and meet best practice guidelines. We are extremely proud of this achievement and of the hard work and commitment to patient care given by staff across our two hospitals.”

 


Over the past few months Monitor has carried out a thorough assessment of the Trust, looking in detail at the quality and safety of services, patient experience, financial management and how well the hospitals are governed.

Chief Executive Andrew Liles explains more: “Being licensed as a Foundation Trust is recognition of the high standards of care we offer, and follows a rigorous assessment of just about all aspects of patient care and hospital management. Quality of services to patients is at the top of Monitor’s agenda, but they also need to be assured that we are well managed, have our finances in good order and have a sustainable strategy for the future.”

Trust Medical Director, Dr Mike Baxter continues: “This achievement offers patients further assurance that Ashford and St Peter’s hospitals provide services that are safe and compare well with other Trusts. The recent Dr Foster Hospital Guide confirmed that we have the (joint) fifth lowest mortality rates in the country across a range of conditions that are the most common cause of death in hospital, including stroke, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, heart attacks and broken hips.”


Becoming a Foundation Trust also means a number of changes to the way the hospital trust is managed.

Aileen McLeish explains more: “Foundation Trusts are membership organisations, and we hope that many of our 8000 members (staff and public) will want to work with us to help us continue to improve the services we offer. Our new elected Council of Governors means we will be much more accountable to the local community and we very much look forward to working closely with them. The first meeting of the Council is on 1st December and, like our Trust Board meetings, will take place in public, demonstrating our commitment to openness and transparency. Being a Foundation Trust also brings us more financial freedoms and means that in the future, we will be able to invest any surpluses we make directly back into patient care, rather than returning the money to the Department of Health.”

Andrew Liles concludes: “Just because we have achieved Foundation Trust status the hard work doesn’t stop here. Our vision is to be one of the best Trusts in the country and we will continue to develop our hospital services and improve patient care as we work towards this aim.”

 

 
Last Updated ( Monday, 06 December 2010 12:30 )