DROITWICH’S MP has praised the ‘exceptional standards of care’ being delivered to NHS Patients at a hospital in the town following a visit to the centre last week.
Nigel Huddleston, MP for Droitwich and Evesham, visited Droitwich Spa Hospital last Friday (February 28) to understand more about the patient choice framework.
The 33-bed hospital located on St Andrews Road in Droitwich Spa offers fast access to a range of treatments to NHS, privately insured and self-pay patients.
In the last 15 years, the privately run hospital has been an essential part of the local healthcare economy, working closely with NHS commissioners to improve access and slash waiting times in Mr Huddleston’s constituency.
Following a recent inspection by the hospital regulator, the CQC, the hospital is rated ‘Good’ in all five domains, specialising in orthopaedic, general surgery, gynaecology, urology, cardiology, ENT and ophthalmology.
On arrival, Mr Huddleston was taken on a tour of the hospital, led by Executive Director Claire Davenport and saw first-hand the state-of-the-art facilities available to patients.
The tour also included a visit to the specialist diagnostic facilities including MRI and CT scanners.
Mr Huddleston was fascinated to hear about the increasing number of his constituents preferring to access NHS treatment privately. All patients are guaranteed a choice of local NHS and independent hospitals under the NHS constitution.
While touring the facilities, Mr Huddleston stopped to meet staff who shared how proud they were of the contribution they and the hospital make to the delivery of NHS care locally.
Mr Huddleston also heard case studies of patients who had faced waiting many months for treatment but were able to access it within 18 weeks at The Droitwich Spa Hospital.
The hospital has a strong reputation locally for clinical excellence with their patient outcomes in the hip and knee category being 98 per cent and 96 per cent respectively, in addition to high levels of patient satisfaction being well above the national average.
Earlier this year, The Government published its long awaited ‘Elective Care Plan’ renewing a commitment to give NHS patients the right to choose from a ‘shortlist’ of local hospitals – ‘including providers in the independent sector paid for by the NHS’.
Mr Huddleston said: “Many of my constituents are concerned about long waits and what that might mean for their health.
“Droitwich Spa Hospital is leading the way in promoting the choice mechanism and guaranteeing that NHS patients can get the treatment they need in a timely way.
“Very often there are NHS appointments going spare at local independent hospital like The Droitwich Spa in my constituency and many patients don’t realise or are not informed that they have a right to see the waiting times and choose where they have their treatment delivered.”
The MP added he was ‘impressed with the wealth of knowledge and expertise available’ at the hospital and said he ‘strongly believes all NHS patients should be able to exercise their right to choose a hospital like this.’
Claire Davenport, executive director of The Droitwich Spa Hospital, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Huddleston on Friday and share with him personally the work we are doing to improve access to care and champion patient’s right to choose.”
