PCT believes one star is plenty to be proud of

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Wandsworth PCT delighted with rating retention

Wandsworth Primary Care Trust has kept its one star rating in this year’s NHS performance ratings. The PCT achieved six out of the eight key targets, and was placed in the top band of performance compared to other PCTs in the categories of access to quality services and service provision.

In the south west London sector, four of the five PCTs have been awarded one star and the fifth has been awarded two stars. 19 out of 31 London primary care trusts were awarded a one star rating, one received zero stars, 11 were awarded two stars and no PCTs were awarded three stars.

Helen Walley, Chief Executive, said “I am delighted that we have kept our one star rating and I would like to thank all our staff for their commitment and diligence in the care they give to our patients and service users. We provide an excellent standard of care to Wandsworth residents and we have a very dedicated and highly qualified professional workforce.

“We have made some fantastic achievements over the last year. I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the fact that we have shown outstanding performance in drug misuse services, with over 1,000 drug misusers receiving treatment last year. For the first time since star ratings have been used to measure performance, we are thrilled to have achieved the target that over 98% of people attending A&E, the minor injuries unit at Queen Mary’s and Tooting Walk-in Centre spend no longer than four hours there before going home or being admitted to hospital. Over the past three years, there have been reductions in deaths due to cancer and circulatory disease and less teenagers getting pregnant.

“We did not achieve two of the eight key targets. By March 2005, Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust was overspent by £8.3 million. We are already working hard this financial year to recoup this deficit. The smoking target also continues to be a huge challenge for us partly due to the large population of 25 to 44 year-olds living in Wandsworth. We have, however, doubled the number of people quitting smoking and have three times as many smoking advisors helping Wandsworth residents give up.”

This is the final year that performance ratings will be produced in their current form. The Healthcare Commission, who publishes the star ratings, will introduce the new NHS annual health check next year. This is a new system of assessing and rating healthcare bodies which will not only tell us about performance in relation to targets, but much more about what is actually going on inside the health service.

Melba Wilson, Chair of Wandsworth PCT, said “I would like to emphasize how proud I am of the work the PCT has done over the last year. Thank you to all of my colleagues for their constant hard work and dedication. I feel sure that more of our excellent achievements will be captured in our annual health check next year.

“I would also like to congratulate South West London & St George’s Mental Health Trust who achieved two stars and St George’s, our main provider of acute care, who also achieved a one star rating. ”

 

July 29, 2005