First UK independent hospital to receive Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation

The anaesthetic team at Benenden Hospital Trust in Kent has today become the first within a UK independent hospital to be awarded the prestigious Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) from the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA).

The ACSA accreditation is the RCoA’s peer-reviewed scheme that promotes quality improvement and the highest professional standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, anaesthetic departments are expected to demonstrate high standards in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership.

Professor Ravi Mahajan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said:

“I would like to offer my personal congratulations to the anaesthetic team at Benenden Hospital Trust for their ACSA accreditation. Receiving this award is a significant achievement, but being the first independent hospital in the UK to achieve this demonstrates clinician and management commitment to deliver the best possible anaesthetic care for their patients.

“The RCoA believes that different funding and operational arrangements within independent hospitals should not preclude them from operating under recognised professional standards. Indeed our work has shown that no adjustments to the College standards needed to be made for Benenden’s internal processes to be accommodated.

“Importantly, we also believe that independent hospitals should participate in approved, national clinical audits and formal accreditation processes such as the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit and ACSA.

“The alignment of standards and clinical governance across the public and independent sectors is particularly important in light of the increase in outsourcing of surgical procedures by the NHS to independent hospitals.”

Claire Harley, Director of Patient Services at Benenden Hospital Trust said:

“Achieving this accreditation for our anaesthetic service is testament to the hard work of our staff and consultants here at Benenden Hospital.  We continually strive to ensure we provide the highest quality of care for our patients.

“Anaesthesia may not always be at the forefront of patients’ minds when having a surgical procedure but it is so important to patient safety and a good recovery.

“We are proud and privileged to be the first private hospital to achieve this award and will continue to work with the Royal College of Anaesthetists to maintain these exacting standards.”