Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital no longer 'in breach of licence' as waiting times improve

The hospital was found in "breach of licence" in January 2016 by NHS Improvement , at the time known as Monitor.

It followed an official investigation that identified concern with the hospital's performance on waiting time targets, known as Referral To Treatment (RTT) targets, as well as wider issues about the culture and governance. On the back of the decision, the regulatory body has taken a keen interest in the hospital’s actions to address the issues.

But it has been satisfied with the hospital's progress and this week removed the breach of licence, having acknowledged the steps taken to improve waiting times and the work done to address cultural concerns.

Mark Brandreth, Chief Executive at the hospital, said: "We are delighted by this news, which gives reassurance to our patients that this is a hospital delivering the highest standards of care.

"First and foremost, this announcement reflects the hard work of our staff over the last year or so, and I want to thank them for that. I also want to thank our patients for their continuing support for the hospital.

"We recognised that there was much to do to address the speed with which patients were able to access our services for routine care, but we are now within a whisker of delivering the national target.

"We are confident that we will be hitting that target by autumn this year, and in a way that means we can sustain it going forward. At a time when the NHS nationally is struggling to deliver on this key measure, that is something of which we should be very proud."

The Trust's RTT performance as of the end of April was 91.2 per cent against the national target which states that 92 per cent of patients should be seen and treated within 18 weeks of referral.

Meanwhile, the Trust has also engaged in a wide-ranging programme to improve the culture of the organisation. This work has been recognised with a place on the shortlist for the prestigious national Patient Safety Awards in the Changing Culture Category.

Frank Collins, Trust chairman, added: "We are delighted that NHS Improvement has recognised the work that has gone on, and have seen fit to remove our breach of licence.

"However, we will not be complacent. We are pleased with what we have achieved but we know there is still more to do.

"The quality of our staff means that we can now work to be a truly world class hospital in terms of both patient experience and outcomes."