THE man charged with reviewing NHS efficiency praised the leadership of Basildon Hospital after being invited to meet staff.

Lord Patrick Carter published an initial report for the Department of Health in the summer, which challenged the NHS to make £5billion of savings over the next four years by improving workforce management, medicines, estates and procurement.

In the coming weeks, Lord Cater is due to publish details of work he has been doing with a number of NHS trusts to identify potential savings.

He is also expected to release details of a method which will allow comparisons between overall productivity and efficiency at different hospitals.

Lord Carter, who was invited to Basildon Hospital by lead consultant radiologist Qaiser Malik, said: “I was impressed by the leadership at the trust and how people understand the challenge ahead. This is a very challenging time for the NHS with the need to maintain quality and deliver great care but at the same time use resources efficiently. We had a constructive debate about the big issues.”

Basildon Hospital was taken out of special measures just over a year ago after receiving a good rating from the Care Quality Commission.

In August this year, the hospital recieved its second good rating after a follow-up inepction.

Lord Carter added: “As part of my review I like to get out on an informal basis to see what‟s going on in hospitals. Given Basildon's recovery and what has been achieved, it's an interesting story. Its always good to hear about successful hospitals.”

Dr Malik said: “It was a pleasure to host Lord Carter. We spoke to him about some of the really positive work we have been doing at the trust to improve efficiency and make savings, whilst still focussing on delivering high quality care.”