West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Watford General Hospital, given high safety rating by Dr Foster Hospital Guide (From Watford Observer)

West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Watford General Hospital, given high safety rating by Dr Foster Hospital Guide

3:30pm Tuesday 1st December 2009

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West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been given a high patient safety rating following an independent survey of hospitals across the country.

The trust, which runs Watford General Hospital, was given a score of four out of five based on 13 safety indicators by Dr Foster Hospital Guide.

The report also singled out for particular praise the trust’s gall bladder surgical techniques as it is performing less invasive surgical procedures than the national average.

Earlier this week it was revealed Dr Foster had rated 12 hospital trusts as under-performing, despite being classed as excellent or good by the Care Quality Commission – the Government health watchdog.

Dr Colin Johnston, medical director and director of patient safety at West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This is excellent news for our patients. Patient safety is our number one priority and I am delighted we have scored very high on patient safety in the Hospital Guide. The hospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR) rates in the trust are now significantly below the national average, both overall and in each of medicine, surgery and obstetrics.”

Dr Johnston added: “Nonetheless, we are not complacent and we are doing everything we can to improve our services even further.

"We are determined to maintain and improve our overall rating and will look at the guide in depth in order to use the data to improve our services even further for the benefit of our patients.”

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