Who we are and what we do
How we fit into the NHS structure
The NHS is the largest organisation in Europe and constitutes a
major part of the public sector of Great Britain.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a
600-bed, single site General Hospital situated on the outskirts of
Chester. The Trust has over 3,000 employees and provides acute,
emergency and elective services, primary care direct access
services and obstetric services to more than 425,000 patients a
year primarily from Chester and surrounding rural areas, Ellesmere
Port and Neston and the Deeside area of Flintshire.
In April 2004, the Countess of Chester Hospital was established
as one of the first ten NHS Foundation Trusts in the country. As a
NHS Foundation Trust, we are using our independence as a
public-benefit corporation and the associated financial, managerial
and governance freedoms to enhance and grow the services we provide
to patients in our community and indeed beyond.
The Countess of Chester Hospital has an excellent reputation for
delivering high quality patient care and is nationally accredited
at the highest levels in many areas, in particular those relating
to clinical outcomes and patient safety.
Our aim is to be the preferred hospital of choice for our
traditional community, and a preferred hospital of choice for
patients from a wider area, and to continue to provide a
comprehensive, high quality, and accessible range of emergency and
elective services to all our patients. We want our patients to be
assured that they will receive their care as rapidly as possible in
a first-class environment, be treated with courtesy and dignity,
and be confident that the outcome of their clinical care will be of
the highest standards and safety.
The strategic direction of the NHS is guided by the Department
of Health. The Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk has links to
key national strategies that guide the NHS nationally.
The Countess of Chester Hospital has a turnover of over £158m in
2008/09. Our key objectives for the year produced the following
outcomes:
| Objective |
Outcome |
| Delivering a £2.3m surplus |
£4.8m underlying surplus achieved |
| Achieving a risk rating of 4 |
Risk rating of 4 |
| Investing £4m in capacity safety and quality |
£3.4m invested |
| Delivering a 3.3% cost improvement target |
£4.2m saved |
| Establishing reserves to mange risk |
Contingency reserve provided |
This information can be obtained from our Annual Report (4.11MB)
We are the main Trust serving Western Cheshire Primary Care
Trust, and provide services to approximately 30% of the population
covered by Betsi Cadwaldhr University Local Health Board in Wales.
Welsh patients represent approximately one fifth of the workload of
the Trust.
Contact details can be obtained from their websites:
Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust: www.wcheshirepct.nhs.uk
Betsi Cadwaldhr University Local Health Board: www.bcu.wales.nhs.uk
Organisational Structure
The Trust is organised into 2 divisions - Urgent and Planned
Care. The Urgent Care Division is headed by Debbie Kadum and the
Planned Care Division is headed by Linda Fellows.
The Trust's Board takes corporate responsibility for all the
Trust's activities.
Senior staff and management Board Members
Full details of all Board
members are available on the website.
Location and contact details for all public-facing departments
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) gives the public the
right to access information held by public authorities, including
the NHS. This means that Hospital Trusts, PCT's and GP Practices
must now provide access to their recorded information on
request.
Our Information Guide has detailed information about the
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where you may
find the information you are looking for. Alternatively, you could
request information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Trust is obliged to respond to these requests about the
information that it holds, in whatever format it is recorded. The
right to request and access this information is subject to some
exemptions. The classes of information will not generally
include:
•Information the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or
exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise
properly considered to be protected from disclosure.
•Information in draft form.
•Information that is no longer readily available as it is
contained in files that have been placed in archive storage, or is
difficult to access for similar reasons.
The information will generally be available to the public via the
Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust website
www.coch.nhs.uk
Requests for information must:
A. be in written format
B. state a name and contact address
C. give a clear description of the information required
Written request must be sent to:
Claire Jones
FOI Officer - Executive Office
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Countess of Chester Health Park
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
Or e-mail to: foi.enquiries@nhs.net
For supporting information about Freedom of Information
requests, please refer to the following documents:
For any information relating to Ellesmere Port Hospital, please
contact:
Alison Swanton, Ellesmere Port Hospital Manager
Tel: 01244 362937
E-mail: a.swanton@nhs.net
The information provided via the website will be available free
of charge. For information required in hard copy there may be a
minimal cost to reflect actual disbursements incurred such as:
- Photocopying
- Postage and packaging
- The costs directly incurred as result of viewing
information
If a charge is to be made, confirmation of the payment due will
be given before the information is provided. Payment may be
requested prior to provision of the information.
For more about the Freedom of Information Act, go to the
Information Commissioner's
website
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You can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
PALS provides support, advice and information for patients who have
concerns or comments on services within the hospital.
Telephone 01244 366066
'Have Your Say' freephone number 0800 195 1241 and select
option 2
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For media enquiries please contact the Director of Marketing and
Communications on 01244 365000
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For Invoices and payment queries, please telephone the Accounts
Payable department on 01244 365000
Invoices should be sent to the following address:
Finance Department
Countess of Chester Hospital
NHS Foundation Trust
The Countess of Chester Health Park
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
Requesting Personal
Information