02/02/2004

Better performing hospitals to get cash boost

Hospital trusts in England providing faster, better emergency care for patients will be able to access £500,000 each to develop services across the hospital, Health Secretary John Reid announced today.

Ninety per cent of people are now seen, treated, admitted or discharged within four hours of their arrival at A&E and trusts have been asked to set out how they will ensure this target is met for all patients.

Ambulance trusts which consistently reach 75% of life threatening cases within eight minutes and trusts improving their crisis care for patients with mental health problems will also be able to access extra money.

Dr Reid said: "Now trusts that deliver real, significant and sustained improvements will get financial rewards that match their achievements and help them to carry on improving their services and facilities."

He also said that the package recognises that there is more to emergency care than A&E and ambulances.

"Not every patient gets equally good services and we're determined to do something about that. Mental health patients can find it especially difficult to get urgent care when they need it and that's why we're focusing new resources on improving 24/7 crisis care."

(gmcg)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

22 September 2008
Scottish Government Pledges Cap On Surgery Waiting Times
Scottish patients may soon have a legal guarantee that they will wait no longer than 12 weeks for surgery. The Scottish Government's Patient Rights Bill proposes a strict limit on how long they have to wait from their surgical referral to receiving their operation.
05 May 2006
GPs' out-of-hours cover criticised
The provision of out-of-hours primary medical care has been criticised in a report by the National Audit Office. The report found that there were shortcomings in the process of setting up the service in 2004, but said that there was no evidence that patient safety had been compromised.
21 March 2011
New Guidance To Improve Care For Vulnerable Patients
The Department of Health has launched four new sets of guidance to improve the care of vulnerable people in NHS funded care. The documents remind staff and managers across the health service of the importance of personalised care and dignity and offers practical advice on how to deliver this.
19 August 2004
Ambulance call-outs to be tailored to patients' need
Patients with non-urgent conditions who dial 999 will not automatically be sent an ambulance, but may instead receive treatment at home or from other healthcare professionals, under changes announced today by Health Minister Rosie Winterton.
19 January 2011
Health Care Bill Puts Focus On Quality
Plans to modernise the National Health Service and put quality of patient care at the heart of everything it does were set out in the Health and Social Care Bill, published today.