ANAESTHETISTS at Dudley's NHS trust have become the first in the West Midlands to receive top marks from the prestigious Royal College of Anaesthetists.

The team at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust have received the respected accreditation, the Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA), in recognition of the department's high standards of care, patient safety and clinical leadership.

Celebrating the achievement, which saw the team score 100% in all areas of assessment, Dr Adrian Jennings, ACSA lead for The Dudley Group, said achieving the award has been an 'amazing success' for his team.

He said: "In challenging times for the NHS and NHS staff, ACSA has given us something very positive to pursue.

“It offered an opportunity to galvanise the department towards a shared goal, generating some positive feedback and reward.

“Finally achieving ACSA has been an amazing success for the Trust and we all feel immensely proud. We have had lots of congratulations from colleagues across the Trust."

The Trust is only the 33rd in the country to gain the accreditation, and the first in the West Midlands.

It runs Russells Hall Hospital, the Guest Outpatient Centre and the Corbett Outpatient Centre in Stourbridge.

Chief Executive of the Trust Diane Wake said: “We are delighted that the hard work of this team to provide the best possible care for patients has been recognised.

"It’s great news for people coming in to our Trust for operations, which can naturally be a worrying time. This shows how much care we put in to looking after them at every stage.”

To mark the achievement, a plaque will be unveiled at Russells Hall Hospital by Dr Fiona Donald, vice president elect of RCoA on September 4.