New era dawns at town's hospital

A NEW era dawns at Warrington Hospital today – with the success of North Cheshire Hospitals’ bid to become an NHS Foundation Trust.
The first change is that the old Trust has changed its name to become the Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
According to Trust chiefs, the new name was chosen to better represent the area the two hospitals’ work across and make it clear where the Trust is located.
But it will also have new freedoms and greater public involvement.
As an NHS Foundation Trust, Warrington and Halton hospitals are now more accountable to local people rather than central Government.
They have a clear commitment to engage with patients, stakeholders and the local community to ensure their views can be heard when developing services. They also have more financial responsibility and control, along with greater freedom to develop their services to local priorities which hospital bosses feel will bring benefits to local people.
Allan Massey, chairman of the Trust, said, “I am absolutely delighted that we have achieved NHS Foundation Trust status and I hope all our staff are incredibly proud. This is a great step forward for the hospitals, and will give us greater flexibility to respond to the needs of our patients, staff and local communities to deliver services that best meet their needs.
“Our hospitals have improved beyond all recognition over the last two years and this approval to move to Foundation Trust status recognises this and gives us the platform to further improve the quality of our services.”
The Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts – Monitor – authorised the hospitals’ application following a thorough assessment of all areas including finance, service development, safety, governance and risk over the last few months.
The hospitals were able to demonstrate that they are performing well, have met the criteria for becoming an NHS Foundation Trust and have robust and sustainable plans for future development.
It represents a major turnaround for the Trust which, only two years ago, was in financial deficit. Since then the trust has paid off its historic debts, improved its national rating for quality of services and made major reductions in both waiting times and hospital infection numbers which are both now amongst the lowest in the North West region.
Patients, carers and local residents have the opportunity to get involved in their hospitals by becoming members of the Foundation Trust and more than 6,700 members of the public have already joined the organisation. The members have elected a Governors’ Council made up of local people and staff along with representatives from partner organisations. They will now play an important role in making key decisions affecting the trust and membership is open to anyone over the age of 12 who lives in the areas the hospital serves.
Catherine Beardshaw, chief executive of the trust, said; “This is a very big vote of confidence from the Government and the Independent Regulator in the progress we have made, our future plans and the care we provide.
“It’s a badge that shows we have met the standards that have allowed us to earn greater independence. We will be able to develop new services and make changes faster than we have before and look at the benefits we can bring to the local community as a major employer in the towns we serve. We want people to be proud of their hospitals and our new name reflects our commitment to the two hospital sites we have, working together to provide the services that local people need.”
There are now 112 NHS Foundation Trust across England.
The trust’s website will change to www.warringtonandhaltonhospitals.nhs.uk this week and has further information on NHS Foundation Trust status, the governors who represent local people and how to become a member of the hospitals.