Chelsea and Westminster Hospital among three best trusts in London

Cheer spread through the white hallways of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on October 24, as staff celebrated the rating as one of the best three NHS trusts in London.

The assessment conducted by the Healthcare Commission was published one year after Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was granted Foundation Trust status and greater independence.

It places the hospital on Fulham Road in the top five per cent of NHS trusts in England. The news was well received by Heather Lawrence, Chief Executive of the hospital, who said:

“This is a tribute to the hard work and expertise of everyone who works at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.”

The annual assessment rates the quality of service and the use of resources between “weak” and “excellent”. Last year Chelsea and Westminster Hospital attained a “fair” and “good” rating.


Reflective report
I found the story about Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on the hospitals web-page, which had a press-release about the annual assessment by the Healthcare Commission. I chose to write the article because hospital stories have great news value as almost everybody has or has had some sort of contact with their local hospital. Furthermore I thought the good result for the hospital could be the basis for an eye-catching article in a local newspaper, as people are presumably inclined to read about it when something is going better (or worse) in their own area than in the rest of the country.
I therefore chose an angle with focus on the pride and joy the good rating of the hospital had brought with it. I did this to make the readers feel that they had a share in that pride. Hospital stories can, however, be a bit boring, so in the intro I tried to create a picture in the reader’s mind by referring to the white hallways full of cheer. I attempted to keep the story and vocabulary as simple as possible, and decided only to highlight a few facts to explain, who did the rating and what it meant. I could have explained the term Foundation Hospital in details but chose not to as to avoid twisting the angle.
The press-release had a couple of quotes in it, and I chose to use one of them as it worked very well wit the angle I had chosen.