Relief at one star rating

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust chiefs were worried they would be given a zero score in the Government's annual star ratings published today.

The trust has been given one star out of a possible three which means the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), which carried out the audit, believes there is cause for concern in key areas.

Meanwhile, Royal West Sussex, which runs St Richard's Hospital at Chichester, has improved its rating from one star last year to two.

This means the trust is performing well overall but has not quite achieved consistently high standards.

Sussex Ambulance Service dropped from two stars last year to one.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which are responsible for managing NHS budgets, GP and dental services and public health, were rated for the first time this year along with the newly-created West Sussex Health and Social Care NHS Trust.

Adur, Arun and Worthing and Horsham and Chanctonbury PCTs were given one star while Western Sussex managed two.

The health and social care trust, which was formed in April 2002, was also given one star.

The annual ratings are based on a range of performance indicators including financial management, clinical care, patient access and care and staff relations.

Targets for ambulance trust include response times while PCTS are assessed in areas including waiting times, smoking cessation services and access to GPS.

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals bosses are pleased they managed to avoid a zero rating but are still unhappy with how they have been assessed over its A&E four-hour wait target.

Chief executive Roger Greene said: "The one star recognised the quality of services given to patients has not slipped.

"However, I firmly believe we deserve a higher public rating than one star. The hard work and commitment of our staff is evident throughout the hospitals."

The trust treated a record number of patients during 2002/03 - 56,000 in-patients and day cases and 200,000 outpatients.

Waiting lists had been cut to a maximum of 15 months for in-patients and 21 weeks for outpatients.

The trust failed to meet the four-hour A&E target although it was met on average throughout the year apart from during one week at the end of March, the week the Government monitored waiting times in hospitals throughout the country.

Mr Greene said: "It is very unfortunate the A&E department is highlighted as having failed a key target. This is far from a fair refection of the quality of service the staff provide.

"It is recognised as one of the best departments in the country and we are proud of the treatment we offer patients."

The trust has been given the highest rating for managing to keep the number of cancelled operations down.

Royal West Sussex chief executive Robert Lapraik says: "To return to two stars, bearing in mind the targets are tougher each year, is a great achievement and testimony to the hard work of the entire team at St Richard's.

"What is particularly pleasing is that the hospital scored highly on the patient focus set of targets - food, privacy and dignity and booked appointments for day surgery."

Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT chief executive Steve Phoenix said: "As a fairly new organisation it has been a year of putting strong foundations in place as well as making improvements to services for local people.

"We were disappointed in receiving just one star, on behalf of our staff and the people we care for.

"We were very close to two stars and the rating does not do justice to the high levels of service our staff provide or the scale of improvements to service we have achieved in just one year.

"Star ratings do not measure the full range of quality of clinical care and the treatment that patients receive."

Sussex Ambulance failed to hit its target for answering 999 Category A calls within eight minutes.

Chief executive David Griffiths said: "I am disappointed our management capacity is stretched to such an extent that some of our plans have not progressed as far as we would have wished."