High levels of safety for patients

High levels of patient safety at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust have today been recognised under a rigorous national patient safety assessment.

Under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST), run by the NHS Litigation Authority, all departments are assessed by external inspectors on their patient safety focus.

The NNUH Trust has been awarded Level 2 accreditation after new and tougher assessments were brought in under CNST. This is a step up from the Level 1 accreditation that the Trust achieved two years ago.   

Risk Manager, Alison May said: “This is a huge achievement for a Trust of this size and I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in achieving this in the face of a tough assessment.”

Chief Executive, Paul Forden said;  “Patient safety is paramount and it's very pleasing that our focus on this key area has been recognised with an improved rating. I would like to add my thanks to the many staff involved in what is a very rigorous assessment.”  

The CNST Standards examine seven core areas:

Clinical care
Implementation of clinical risk management
Learning from experience
Induction, training and competence
Health records
Advice and consent
Response to major clinical incidents

The recent Trust-wide CNST assessment follows the award of Level 2 status to the hospital's Maternity department in December 2005. The maternity team was re-awarded Level 2 accreditation after new and tougher assessments were brought in under CNST. Norwich's maternity unit is the only one in Norfolk or Suffolk to have achieved and maintained Level 2 status.