Primary Care Trust Welcomes Annual Health Check
16/10/2008
Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust today welcomed the publication of the Healthcare Commission’s 2007-2008 Annual Health Check, which confirms that great strides have been made by NHS staff to further improve the quality of services and manage resources.
This year, the PCT was rated as Good for both Quality of Services and Use of Resources. Last year, the organisation was rated as Fair for both categories.
Chief Executive of the PCT, Jan Stubbings explained that the comprehensive assessment provided a basis for action on improving the health and well being of local people and their experiences of NHS services.
The main findings are consistent with the PCT’s own priorities for improving performance and developing health services for patients over the next three years.
The Quality of Services category covers core standards on patient safety, patient experience and the environment in which patients are treated; existing national standards which cover access to services and waiting times and national targets on improving the health of the population.
Jan Stubbings said:
“These ratings are testament to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff who work in primary care, in the community, in local hospitals and in a range of support roles. They should be very proud of their achievements this year which have been recognised by the Healthcare Commission.”
“The performance indicators show that there have been some very significant improvements over the last year right across the county. These include waiting times for inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic hospital care, significant improvement in the delivery of mental health services, access to community services for patients with a long term condition and the number of people accessing services to help them give up smoking.”
“We are very pleased that our ratings have improved, but we are very ambitious for our patients and want to deliver excellence across the board. This will continue to be our focus and our motivation.”
The PCT also acknowledged areas for further improvement such as ambulance response times and encouraging patient choice.
Commenting on the Good score for Use of Resources which includes financial management, Jan said:
“We have always acknowledged the need to get the balance right between meeting important priorities and targets for improving patient care, whilst ensuring we achieve value for money for every penny and every pound spent on healthcare.”
“We are pleased that our score this year reflects the hard work and effort that has been made by staff to achieve a firm financial footing for the future.”
