Praise for staff's hard work
The chairman and chief executive of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust today expressed their thanks to all the staff who have helped deliver significant improvements in waiting times under the national NHS Plan.
The chairman and chief executive of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust today expressed their thanks to all the staff who have helped deliver significant improvements in waiting times under the national NHS Plan.
- For routine in-patients and day cases the NHS target is that no one should wait more than 9 months for admission and this was achieved (*with the exception of 24 patients waiting for bone or other tissue for operations)
- The NHS target for out-patients is that no one should have to wait more than 17 weeks for a first new appointment and this was achieved.
- Performance against the A&E target of having 90 per cent of patients waiting less than 4 hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer provisionally looks to have come in at 89 per cent, a notable performance in light of the 10 per cent rise in emergencies this year. Of those A&E patients who simply needed treatment but did not need admitting, 98% were seen and discharged within four hours.
- 100 per cent of patients with urgent cancer referrals were seen within two weeks.
- The Trust also expects to break even for the financial year 2003/04.
Trust chief executive Stephen Day and chairman David Prior said: “It has been an incredibly busy year and we have treated record numbers of patients. This has been a remarkable achievement and it would not have been possible without the exceptional commitment and hard work of all our staff.”
Exactly what bearing performance against the NHS targets will have on star ratings this year is still to be clarified. The Commission for Healthcare Audit and Improvement's (CHAI) star ratings are expected to be published in July.
*Due to a national shortage of bone and other tissue, 24 patients have waited more than nine months. The Trust is working to ensure these patients get their operations at the earliest possible date that relevant tissue can be sourced.
Media contact: Sue Jones on 01603 287200.