it was named by the health service journal as one of the top hundred nhs trusts to work for in 2015. at that time it had 6,219 full-time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 4.42%. 87% of staff recommend it as a place for treatment and 71% recommended it as a place to work. after an inspection in august 2015 the trust was one of only three in england rated "outstanding" by the care quality commission. it was rated as having the highest index of digital maturity of any organisation in the english nhs in april 2016.