THE PRINCESS Alexandra Hospital has been recognised as the best in the country a month after recording the worst A&E waiting times in England.

More than a third of patients waited for more than four hours at the Harlow hospital this January, with 2,830 of the 8,422 patients kept waiting for 240 minutees or more from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer.

As well as missing its target of seeing 95 per cent of patients in four hours or less by 30 per cent, one patients was left waiting for more than half a day.

January’s unfortunate figures come after the Princess Alexandra was rated the worst in England for A&E waiting times from October to December, and also won a prestigious award.

At a glittering ceremony last week, the Academy of Fabulous Stuff - which aims to bring improvements to healthcare by encouraging staff to drive for change at work - named the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust of the Year.

Simon Stevens, NHS England Chief Executive Officer and Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nurse, NHS England, were two of the judges who chose the winners of the award.

Princess Alexandra was recognised in part for the work of Dr Marie Parsons and her team undertook to implement efficiency changes in the work of the pathology department. Samples arrive by pod at the pathology lab from the Emergency Department (ED). By introducing a rota system for 10 minute pod checks, sample processing by the laboratory has become much faster. Following the change, 95 per cent of samples for ED are turned around in just 60 minutes - a year ago the figure was 90 per cent.

Dr Parsons said: "A small change like this has a big impact on services and patient experience. A faster turnaround of samples in pathology means shorter waits for patients in ED."

Other pledges ranged from rolling out e-prescribing by clinicians and improving information gathering by the vascular team, to enhancing staff wellbeing.

Presenting the certificate and cup to the PAHT team at the ceremony held at the O2 arena, Jon Wilks, Co-Founding Director of the Academy of Fabulous Stuff, said: "The whole trust embraced the spirit of Fab Change Week from ward to board. It's not just down to the number of pledges made during this week, but the number that have been turned into truly transformative actions to address the challenges of the organisation and kick start a programme of grass root improvements."

Simon Stevens, NHS England Chief Executive Officer and Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nurse, NHS England, were two of the judges who selected us for this award.