THE TRUST responsible for providing primary health care in East Devon has been praised by an independent regulator.

THE TRUST responsible for providing primary health care in East Devon has been praised by an independent regulator.

The Care Quality Commission, which published its annual performance ratings for all the NHS trusts in the country last Thursday, October 15, gave Devon Primary Care Trust a score of 'good' for quality of commissioning services.

Rebecca Harriott, chief executive of NHS Devon, said the assessment demonstrated it was meeting - and in many cases exceeding the required standard.

Rebecca said: "As the main commissioning body for NHS services in Devon we are naturally very pleased that the quality of our commissioning is recognised as being 'good'."

The trust was judged to have been compliant with meeting 43 core standards.

These cover Governmental targets in areas which include safety, patient focus, clinical and cost effectiveness.

It met 12 commitment performance indicators as well as 17 out of a possible 23 national priorities.

The Care Quality Commission report singled out urgent and emergency care, together with drug treatment services, as among the best performing in the country.

Rebecca added: "It's important not to forget that achievement of four-hour waiting times in A&E, and a maximum 18-week wait for inpatient treatment, is due to the collaboration of the whole healthcare community."

The quality of financial management at the trust, meanwhile, was judged to be 'fair'.

Rebecca said: "While we are clearly delivering national healthcare priorities locally, we recognise that services must always have a firm financial platform.

"We are confident that the plans we have in place will further improve both the quality of services and financial performance in future.