SaTH ninth best in country for hitting referral to treatment target

The Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is in ninth best in the country for making sure patients wait no longer than 18 weeks between seeing their GP and having treatment at hospital.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has hit the hit national 92% referral to treatment (RTT) for 14 of the past 15 months.

In October, 93.5% of SaTH’s patients received planned operations or planned care within 18 weeks of being referred to hospital – above the 92% target and the national average of 87.1%.

SaTH are ranked ninth out of 126 hospital trusts in the UK for ensuring patients have planned operations and care within 18 weeks of referral.

Nigel Lee, Chief Operating Officer, said: “Tackling this issue has been one of our top priorities and continuing to hit this milestone is great for our patients and marks a fantastic achievement for our staff.

“We are very proud of the good standards of care we continue to provide, and delighted to find ourselves ranked in the top 10 performing hospital for this key target.”

The 92% RTT target is one of the government’s key access targets and a patient right within the NHS Constitution.