Hospital trust balances books ahead of target

The reduction of a severe financial deficit, new facilities at Rochdale Infirmary and an excellent performance is infection prevention were the highlights of the Pennine Acute Trust's annual general meeting.

Trust chairman John Jesky thanked members of staff for recovering a historic financial debt of £9.2million in twelve months, a year ahead of schedule.

Mr Jesky said: "This is a real achievement, and has taken place alongside improvements in service quality and access times. A solid financial foundation is essential for the development of the highest-quality clinical services. We will not return to a position of deficit again. Instead, we will increase our efficiency, and create surpluses which we can invest in our clinical services."

In his opening speech Mr Jesky mentioned some of the investments that have taken place at Rochdale Infirmary over the past 12 months.

These included the installation of a new digital X-ray system and the £1.3 million conversion of the Victoria Suite at The Royal Oldham Hospital, which established an outpatients breast care unit for patients from across Rochdale and Oldham. This created a 'one stop' service for patients, including the development of a herceptin service on-site.

Mr Jesky made special mention of the £600,000 in the new CT scanner at the Infirmary, which was opened by Geoff Tootill and reported on Rochdale Online last week. Mr Jesky said: "This investment will enable clinicians at Rochdale Infirmary to carry out a range of investigations to a standard and at a speed which just five years ago would have been the stuff of science fiction."

Over the past year the Trust has significantly improved its infection prevention record, having reduced MRSA cases by more than a quarter. Mr Jesky said: "I would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts, and urge them to sustain their focus on this vital topic."