Children's hospital recognised for excellence
This January, staff members at the Siegen children's hospital Siegen received a Recognised for Excellence (3 stars) certificate for quality services from
Dr André Moll, project manager of the Ludwig-Erhard-Preis.
This is the first German hospital, and second one in Europe, to receive this coveted award,
Since 1999, the hospital has followed the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) management approach and performed two self-evaluations. To obtain external experts’ verification of the results of these self-evaluations, last year the hospital decided to enter the competition for the Ludwig-Erhard-Preis (LEP) – the first entry from a German hospital.
Although the award is an important recognition of the staff’s hard work, it was not the main reason for its competition entry. ‘We wanted an external institution to look at our hospital and check whether our self-evaluation was on mark,’ explained Jochen Scheel, Siegen’s managing director. ‘And, it was; the overall result of the LEP is by and large consistent with the self-evaluation.’
Stefanie Wied, administrative director of the children’s hospital pointed out that a lot still remains to be done. One of the measures planned is a staff survey. Additionally, in the context of its involvement in the German Society of Children’s Hospitals and Paediatric Departments, the Siegen staff has for years been pushing for quality benchmarks that would allow comparisons between hospitals.
27.03.2009
