Lisburn News

Boost for Lagan Valley Hospital with prestigious award

by STACEY HEANEY

Jason Harries, Managing Director of CHKS presents the award to, from left to right, Jeff Pears, Karen Mcllveen, Diane Keown and Alan McDowell from South Eastern HSC Trust.

LAGAN Valley Hospital has received a major boost ahead of the decision on the future of night time services with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust was named as one of the top 40 acute hospital trusts in the UK, at an awards ceremony in London.

The prestigious national awards, run by health care intelligence and improvement specialists CHKS, list the 40 top acute health trusts across the country, with the South Eastern Trust also shortlisted to the final five in the patient safety category.

The award is based on the evaluation of 23 indicators of clinical effectiveness, healthy outcomes, efficiency, patient experience and quality of care, and includes all acute hospital trusts. The patient safety category recognises outstanding performance in providing a safe hospital environment for patients and is based on a range of indicators, including rates of hospital acquired infections and mortality.

The Trust's acute hospital network spans the Ulster, Downe, Lagan Valley, Ards and Bangor Hospitals.

Director of Hospital services, Seamus McGoran said: "We are absolutely delighted to receive this award. It is a testament to the quality and efficiency of our services and a wonderful tribute to our staff who work hard to achieve such high standards."

Chief Executive Hugh McCaughey also praised staff: "Staff should be very proud that we have been judged as the best in the UK in terms of clinical effectiveness and patient safety. These awards are based on hard data, and validate our commitment in this Trust to safety, quality and experience, and our focus on health outcomes.

"Congratulations also to the Southern HSC Trust. I think the fact that two Northern Ireland Trusts have been named as the best across the UK demonstrates the high quality of "healthcare here and provides reassurance to patients."

Jason Harries, Managing Director of CHKS said: "Our patient safety award highlights those Trusts that clearly share a commitment to driving improvement and engendering a culture of excellence throughout their organisations."

stacey.heaney@ulsterstar.co.uk

Ulster Star
11/05/2012