by Helen Fairley

Hospitals run by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have made more improvements than any other hospitals nationally, according to a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC publishes information today that shows how well hospitals, primary care trusts and the ambulance service have performed against 24 core national standards (containing 44 parts) at a local level.

According to the report, MTW has recorded the single biggest improvement of any hospital trust in the country. It now has two* standards left to work on this year to record a perfect score in 2010.

Chief executive Glenn Douglas said: “MTW is on a journey of improvement. We’ve come a long way and this report shows that, but we won’t rest. Our aim is to go even further this year to achieve the highest possible standards of quality and care for our patients.

“We’ve been scrutinised like no other trust in the country, but now MTW is its own biggest critic. What this report also shows is that if we don’t get it right all of the time, or have absolute confidence that’s the case, we won’t claim to be compliant throughout the year.

"We are putting solid, sustainable improvements in place at MTW and will continue on our journey to the benefit of all our patients.”

Performance is based on standards being met consistently throughout the year.

The trust was compliant with 24 out of 43 sections of the core standards in 2007/08. It complied with 35 out of 44 sections throughout 2008/09 and met seven of the remaining nine sections by the end of the year (March 31) or sooner.

The CQC report mentions that the trust did not comply with standard 4a, which is linked to the Hygiene Code, until the end of the year. The trust had to fit two wash hand basins on a ward, improve audit systems for infection control and improve endoscopy facilities. All of these were completed by November 2008 and the Trust was granted unconditional registration with the Hygiene Code by the CQC on April 1.

Click here to see The Trust’s Core Standards Declaration.