Hospital in Rochdale scoops top prize at national awards

Leon Newth, Lisa Trybus, Karen Prins, Linda Hodges and Paul Manning

Staff and doctors at The Highfield Hospital in Rochdale have been recognised for the quality of care they deliver to patients. The prestigious ‘Private Hospital Group of the Year’ award is presented to an organisation whose hospitals show excellence in their delivery of care, commitment to the community and innovation in healthcare. This is the third time that the Rochdale hospital has won the award.

The latest statistics show 92% of patients who visited The Highfield Hospital rated their experience as ‘very good’ in addition to 80% of employees recommending the hospital to a friend. Independent analysis of Circle Health Group’s hospitals’ hip and knee procedure outcomes using PROMS (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) showed that Circle’s results were 95% higher than the NHS benchmark and overall, were 2% higher than the private sector average.

The award presented to the hospital’s owners, Circle Health Group, in London on 8 June, also noted the extraordinarily high levels of staff satisfaction and engagement at the hospital. In 2022, teams across the hospital mobilised to gather, sort and send urgently needed medical supplies to 6 hospitals in Ukraine. In total the hospital’s efforts contributed to £3 million worth of medical supplies in 12 months. The largest single contribution made by a UK business to the crisis in Ukraine.

In addition to charitable work, the hospital was recognised for its commitment to staff wellbeing and career development opportunities. Across the organisation 292 apprentices successfully completed or began higher education courses with 30 different clinical and no-clinical programmes available. Many of those apprentices came from The Highfield Hospital.

This is the third time the well-known local hospital has received national recognition for its approach to support patients. No other independent provider or hospital has received this successive recognition for innovation, clinical success and employment opportunities.

Commenting on the success, Paolo Pieri, CEO of Circle Health Group, said: “The award is a testament to what was an amazing year for The Highfield Hospital. Teams across the hospital work tirelessly to support patients in their community and I couldn’t be prouder of what they have achieved.”