Big gap in league placings between Tees NHS trusts

NORTH Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has been ranked 22nd in a new Government 'league table' of acute NHS trusts with its South Tees counterpart lagging 60 places behind in 82nd.

- By STUART ARNOLD

From now on trusts, including also separately non-acute and ambulance trusts, will be ranked every three months with the best performing given more power over how they spend their money.

Performance levels are calculated based on data submitted by trusts themselves, which includes time spent in A&E, ambulance response times, waiting times for operations and cancer treatment.

Another factor considered is trust finances likely to weigh against the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since it continues to carry a substantial deficit largely as a result of a historic Private Finance Initiative (PFI) debt arising from construction of the James Cook University Hospital.

NHS England advises against comparing different types of acute hospital against each other since they vary in size and in the category of services they offer.