Somerset must wait for hospital improvements

SOMERSET’S strong _performance in new NHS league tables will not speed up improvements to its hospitals, the health minister has admitted.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local Democracy Reporter

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched new league tables for the health service in early-September, ranking NHS trusts on a range of measures in a bid to boost service quality.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (which runs Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and Yeovil Hospital, among other services) was ranked in the top 20 trusts in the country - one of four West Country trusts which cracked the top 20.

But health minister Karin Smyth MP has confirmed that the trust's performance will not lead to improvements to Musgrove's facilities being sped up - with patients being left to wait until at least 2033 for any additional upgrades to be implemented.

‘The league tables rank NHS trusts on how well they deliver the government’s priorities for the health service, including meeting waiting time targets for AXE admissions, ambulance response times and elective operations.

Trusts are also penalised if they run too high a deficit - meaning that trusts which reduce procedures to save money could end up being scored higher than those which carry out more operations in a bid to cut waiting lists.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Smith - the Labour MP for Bristol South, inset below - said she did not believe league tables would put more pressure on NHS staff or have any negative impact on patients.