The league table published by the Department of Health and Social Care ranks the best to worst performing NHS trusts in England.
The scores rank trusts based on a range of measures, including finances and patient access to care, as well as bringing down waiting times for operations and A&E, and improving ambulance response times.
These are categorised in four segments, with the first reflecting the best performers and the fourth showing the worst. The lower the score, the better the performance.
The scores are not an absolute unit of measurement, such as marks out of a total or a percentage; rather they are intended to reflect how an organisation performs relative to other trusts in the same category and to help determine their ranking.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been ranked one of the worst in the non-acute category.
The partnership placed in 59th position out of 61 trusts, scoring 3.07 points in category 4.
A spokesperson for the trust said they are assessing the areas that need improvement.
It said: “The areas of organisational performance which form the basis of today’s assessment identify where we need to improve.
“We are fully focused on doing this, on behalf of the patients, carers, families and local communities we serve.”
This mental health and learning disability care provider has come under fire in recent years.
The self-employed graphic designer was found dead in a bedroom in her parents’ home on February 20 last year, just two days after being granted leave from the psychiatric unit where she was sectioned.
The four-day inquest found that “inadequate communication” between staff in the hospital and from the hospital to Caroline’s family contributed to her death.
More recently, a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units (PICU) at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as “requires improvement”.
A spokesman from the health trust said it has made “significant improvements” since this inspection.
Also in the non-acute category, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust ranked more highly.
The trust was ranked 15th out of 61 trusts, placing in category 2 and scoring 2.13 points.
In the acute category, three Sussex trusts were featured.
Both Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust were ranked in the third category.
Surrey and Sussex placed 46th with a score of 2.12.
East Sussex placed 61st with a score of 2.30.
A spokeswoman for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“We welcome the NHS Oversight Framework and support the government’s focus on improving transparency and quality in the NHS.
“Our trust is currently in segment three of the five framework segments, and ranked 61 in the acute ‘league table’.
“We continue to work hard on reducing our deficit, delivering cost savings, and strengthening patient access, experience and outcomes.”
However, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was placed in category four, receiving a score of 2.82 and placing 117th out of 134 trusts. This trust includes the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, Worthing Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
Dr Andy Heeps, Interim Chief Executive at University Hospitals Sussex said: “This rating shows that we need to make improvements to ensure that patients can get the care they need more quickly.
“We have made huge progress in that regard over the last 12 months but there are still too many patients waiting too long for care – we accept that completely, and are focused on making the changes needed.
“We also know that our patients are overwhelmingly likely to be pleased with the care they receive, and to trust and value our staff, but improving access is crucial.”
Additionally, South East Coast Ambulance Service was ranked in fourth place in the ambulance trust league table, with a score of 2.28
Top performers will be given greater freedoms and investment, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
From next summer, the tables will be expanded to cover integrated care boards, which are responsible for planning health services at a local level, and wider areas of NHS performance.
Sir James Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said giving patients access to more data “will help to drive improvement even faster by supporting them to identify where they should demand even better from their NHS”.
However, Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at The King’s Fund, warned that “a single ranking cannot give the public a meaningful understanding of how good or bad a hospital is”.
Secamb Chief Executive Simon Weldon said: “I am pleased that the hard work of our people in striving to provide the best care to our patients has been recognised and that the strong progress we have made across a number of metrics during the past two years has been recognised.
“My goal is to keep Secamb on its path of improvement, enabling our teams to deliver the best possible care to our communities.”
All trusts have been contacted for comment.
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