A HOSPITAL in Suffolk has been declared the second best in the country in terms of its waiting time targets.

The result notched by the Bury St Edmunds-based West Suffolk Hospital was last night described as “great” by the health centre’s chief operating officer Gwen Nuttall.

The hospital’s end-of-year performance shows 99% of patients were treated within 18-weeks of being referred by their GP - way above the 90% target set for the hospital.

The figures mean West Suffolk was the best performing trust in the east of England and the second best non-specialist acute hospital in the whole country for hitting that particular target.

“We are delighted with these latest figures, which show that the treatment our patients are receiving is amongst the fastest in the entire country,” Ms Nuttall. “Our staff have worked extremely hard to achieve these great results, and have shown enormous commitment and dedication to finding the most efficient ways of working while ensuring that we continue to maintain the highest possible standards.”

The hospital also hit its targets for cutting healthcare-related infections, such as MRSA.

During the past year, six cases of the MRSA bloodstream infection were picked up by patients from within the hospital, and three from within the general community. This takes the total for the year to nine – in line with the ceiling figure set by the Department of Health.

The trust surpassed its target for reducing the number of cases of Clostridium difficile. The 2009/10 threshold stood at 58, with West Suffolk recording a total of 44 for the year.

“We are really pleased with these latest figures as reducing infection is something we take very seriously,” said Nichole Day, chief nurse and director of infection prevention and control. “We would like to pass our thanks onto our patients and visitors, who have played their part in this major success by taking on board the hand hygiene message.”