Serco agrees to hand over Braintree Hospital to Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust

Serco has today confirmed that it has agreed to hand over the management of the Braintree Community Hospital to Mid Essex Hospital Trust at the end of March 2014.   This announcement follows an agreement reached with Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group and the notice that Serco issued in December 2013 to end early its contract to manage the hospital.

Braintree Community Hospital provides patients with day surgery and other medical services and is achieving excellent levels of patient experience: waiting lists are typically half the national target and a recent survey showed a 100% patient recommendation rate to friends and family.  However, since taking over operations in 2011, the predicted level of patient referrals to the hospital has not materialised and Serco's opportunities to improve the utilisation of the hospital are constrained. 

Valerie Michie, Managing Director Health, Serco said: "I am pleased that Serco has now successfully reached agreement to hand over the management of Braintree Community Hospital and we are committed to ensuring a smooth transfer; it's a great hospital with a fantastic team.

"We are proud of the work that our people do day in, day out and of our achievements at the hospital, where we have delivered significant improvements since taking over its running in 2011.  We have given high quality care and an improved patient experience to around 60,000 patient contacts a year.  100% of those patients we recently surveyed would recommend Braintree Community Hospital to friends or family and surgery waiting lists are typically nine weeks against a national target of 18 weeks.

"The decision to end this contract early was a very difficult one for us, but Serco's opportunities to improve the utilisation of the hospital are constrained."

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