NHS league tables: Best, worst hospitals revealed

Labour has reintroduced football style league table to all 205 National Health Service (NHS), trust in England, the first such ratings since the early 2000s. The tables, based on 30 performance indicators, list Moorfields eye hospital in London at the top, while Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, is at the bottom.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the publications is part of a new transparency drive to show patients and taxpayers how services compare across the country. The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed the league tables will be updated every three months.

The ranking measure performance on accident and emergency waiting times, elective treatment with 18 weeks, cancer diagnosis targets, diagnostic test delivery, financial stability, and patient feedback. High performing trusts will be given greater operational freedom, while lower performing ones will receive additional support.

Specialist trust led the rankings, Moorfields eye hospital placed first, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London - second, Christie cancer centre in Manchester - third, and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital - fourth. Northumbia Healthcare ranked ninth as the best non-specialist acute trust.

Moorfields board paper showed the trust was 10th nationally for elective care waiting time, third for diagnostic test within six weeks, and second for four-hour A&E performance.

The league table mark the return of a system first introduced under Tony Blair’s government in 2000, later scrapped in 2010. 

According to the Department of Health, the new approach aims to raise standards, reduce regional variation in care, and improve public confidence in National Health Services (NHS).