The NHS in Gateshead has been rated the best in the North East and in the top five nationally for consistently high-quality care in patients with hip fractures.
According to the latest data on the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD), the trauma and orthopaedic unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead had the highest rating of any Trust in the North East for the fourth year in a row.
The NHFD monitors the care of all hip fracture patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Hospitals are rated on a range of performance indicators including time to surgery from arrival in an emergency department, assessment by a specialist from care of the elderly service, nutritional assessment, along with other best practice criteria.
Gateshead scored highly, meeting 88.6% of all the best practice criteria – ranking it the fourth best unit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Kiran Singisetti, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, says: “We’re thrilled to be ranked as the best in the region. It’ a testament to the hard work of the teams here at the Queen Elizabeth. Our excellent ranking in the NHFD shows just how well our multidisciplinary teams work together and collaborate to respond to the needs of our patients. We have implemented and constantly looking for new ideas for quality improvement related to hip fracture and trauma patient care in general.”
Andy Beeby, medical director at Gateshead Health, adds: “Like many NHS Trusts, 2020 was a challenging year across our trauma service but the latest NHFD results are a testament to our staff’s resilience during the pandemic. They have worked hard to maintain high-quality care and patient experience and we’re all proud of them and their amazing achievement.”