Best and worst hospitals in England ranked in new NHS league tables

People in England no longer have to wonder which hospital would provide the best care for their health concerns, as the government has published a new scoring system. The new league table has ranked the performance of every NHS trust in England.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Social Care published the league table for the first time. Every trust in England will be ranked quarterly based on its standards, starting from urgent and emergency care to elective operations and mental health services.

"Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country," Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said in a statement.

"Patients know when local services aren’t up to scratch, and they want to see an end to the postcode lottery - that’s what this government is doing. We’re combining the extra £26 billion investment each year with tough reforms to get value for money, with every pound helping to cut waiting times for patients," Streeting added.

"Letting patients and the public access more data will help to drive improvement even faster by supporting them to identify where they should demand even better from their NHS and by putting more power in their hands to make informed decisions on their choice of provider," Sir Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, said.

The trusts are ranked in 4 segments based on their performance; the first belongs to the best performing, and the fourth to the worst. The top performers have more perks, such as more power on how they spend their money. The ratings are based on seven different areas, including waiting times for operations, cancer treatment, time spent in A&E, and ambulance response times. The list is divided into three sections: acute trusts, non-acute trusts (mental health, learning disability, and community), and ambulance trusts.

The best

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has secured the #1 position in the league table for NHS acute hospitals in England. It is followed by Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust



The worst

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust is at the bottom, due to its drawbacks such as the building's structural problems, including propped-up ceilings and also long waits.

Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has the worst ranking among acute trusts in London. It is followed by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, and Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.