SOUTHEND Hospital has been rated as "good" in the first ever annual Learning from Mistakes League, which has been published by NHS Improvement.

The League draws on a range of data to help identify the level of openness and transparency in NHS provider organisations for the first time and sees Southend as the highest rated acute trust across Essex.

This year’s League shows that 120 organisations were rated as outstanding or good, with 78 having significant concerns and 32 that had a poor reporting culture.

Sue Hardy, chief executive of Southend Hospital, explained: “Staff across the trust have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years to ensure that we have robust and clear procedures in place for any member of the team to raise concerns about the safety of patients, which is our paramount concern.

“The report shows that we are above average nationally for reporting incidents. That doesn’t mean the hospital is unsafe, It shows we have a positive reporting culture and a supported learning environment within the trust, something which is encouraged across the NHS.

“Although it is wonderful news to be rated good our aim is to improve even further for next year. It’s a great place to be building from and fits perfectly into our values of care with compassion, working together and professional & accountable.”

The League forms part of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s announcement of ambitious plans to improve safety and transparency within the NHS – to help build a safer service for patients seven days a week at the first ministerial-level Global Patient Safety Summit.