Help for Kent NHS trust among 'worst in country'

A Kent NHS trust has been included in a programme aimed at tackling the "worst services in the country".

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is among five NHS trusts included in an "intensive recovery" programme announced by Health Secretary West Streeting on Wednesday.

The programme is aimed at improving trusts at the bottom of NHS league tables, which face "deep-rooted challenges".

A spokesperson for the trust said it welcomed the bespoke support and looked forward to "significant, sustained and positive change".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday morning, Streeting said: "The NHS is improving but the NHS is still not good enough.

"Even in some of the most challenged trusts there are people who are busting a gut, and, as they do so, are suffering a moral injury - if I feel ashamed seeing people on trolleys in corridors, imagine how the staff who work in those conditions also feel."

Each trust involved, including East Kent, will receive a tailored improvement plan, which may include a change of leadership where necessary, NHS "veterans" with a history of success being brought into underperforming areas, the merging or separating of trusts, and cash for crumbling estates, a department for health and social care spokesperson said.

News of East Kent's involvement in the intensive recovery programme comes on the same day the BBC revealed the trust waited two days before raising the alarm about the first cases of meningitis in a deadly outbreak in the county.

The trust's maternity services have also been the subject of a national inquiry following an independent review in 2022 which found up to 45 babies might have survived with better care.

A trust spokesperson said: "Our priority is ensuring our community has the best possible health service, so we welcome this bespoke support to tackle the long-standing challenges within our trust and improve waiting times for patients.

"We recognise how hard our staff work every day to provide safe care for patients, and we are very grateful."

East Kent Hospitals runs five hospitals in the county - Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) hospital in Margate, William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Buckland Hospital in Dover, and the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone.

Other trusts in the programme include North Cumbria, Mid and South Essex, Northern Lincolnshire, and Goole and Hull University Teaching Hospitals.

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