Tameside General Hospital response to Panorama

Statement from Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Our decision not to appear on this programme hasn't been taken lightly as we believe that openness, transparency and accuracy are essential principles of any public sector organisation.

We know that some people have genuine concerns about services here at Tameside Hospital and we want to reassure them that this hospital continues to provide safe and effective patient care. We have also had a large number of messages of support from the public and from staff, which is very heartening.

We welcome the recently announced Care Quality Commission "quality of care" review and are confident that it will address public concerns and help the hospital to make any changes and improvements where necessary. Foundation Trust Regulator, Monitor, has also been invited by the hospital to undertake a review of its governance arrangements.

We do not want to be drawn into a national debate about hospital performance ratings, as our primary aim is to work hard to address these concerns with patients, staff and local people.