Secretary of State applauds excellent work of the Countess

The Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley CBE MP met NHS staff and patients today during a visit to the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley said: "I am enormously impressed by the high level of patient care that people at the Countess of Chester Hospital receive. People inChesterare benefiting from the hospital's state-of-the-art 24/7 stroke service, which is giving them a better chance of full recovery. I am also very impressed by the fantastic newly refurbished emergency department.

"I would like to pay tribute to all the hard work of the staff at Countess of Chester Hospital who are providing care for people over the Christmas period."

Mr Lansley's visit started with a tour of the Emergency Department which has recently benefited from a £2m investment programme.  Accompanying Mr Lansley was Stephen Mosley, MP forChester, who previously opened the final phase of the programme, the newly refurbished Majors area and new resuscitation facility.

The Secretary of State met Dr Kausik Chatterjee, who demonstrated the Countess's state of the art telemedicine service which is giving stroke patients in Chester a better chance of full recovery. Dr Chatterjee explained, "Stroke patients in this region benefit from a 24/7 hyperacute stroke service at the Countess, including a telemedicine service that was the first in theNorth West.  The Countess is also in the final phase of a project to have a joined up telemedicine service with a neighbouring hospital (Macclesfield) to help them cover a 24/7 service to benefit patients inEast Cheshire."

Mr Lansley then visited a stroke ward where he met a number of stroke patients and spent time chatting with patients, families and clinical staff.

The last stop on his tour was the Children's Unit, where he was introduced to some of the families and younger patients who will be spending Christmas at the Countess. Although no-one wants to be in hospital at this time, the staff are doing everything possible to keep the children's spirits up, including the traditional visit from Santa (also known as Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Ravi Jayaram) on Christmas Day.

Peter Herring, Chief Executive at the Countess, said "I am very proud of the team here and was delighted to be able to introduce some of them to the Secretary of State. Their commitment and hard work has led to the Countess being rated as one of the top forty hospitals in the country for the past eleven years and the residents ofChester,Cheshire,Ellesmere Portand Deeside should be reassured that when they need medical care, they are in the best possible hands at the Countess."