Cancer treatment improving at hospital trust

The start of a bowel cancer and cervical screening programmes have been improved

Improvements in cancer treatment have led to a health trust needing less oversight from NHS England.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was under the highest level of scrutiny by the national health body but county councillors have been told of progress made in recent months.

Managing director Stephen Collman told the council the trust had been in Tier 1, the level where a trust needs the highest level of support and monitoring.

But, during the past four months, the trust had dropped to Tier 2, a sign of progression, he said, and added he was hopeful they would be out of the tier system altogether within a few months.

The trust has oversight of the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, the Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

Improvements included the start of a bowel cancer screening programme, work on a new database to underpin a cervical screening programme and the positive impact of the trust’s new urology intervention unit in Redditch, Mr Collman said.

Progress was also being made on referring patients to cancer specialists at neighbouring trusts including in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire and Birmingham.

Jade Brooks, director of operations and delivery at NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire, described the Tier 1 arrangement as being involved in a "supportive arrangement, so that we have access to national experts in cancer as well as the Department of Health, as well as trusts where they have done good work, so we learn from their good practice."