NHS league tables reveal trust rankings

THREE OF REGION'S HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS IN TOP 30

- By SAM VOLPE

NEW NHS league tables show three of the North East's hospital trusts are ranked in the top 30 nationally - but one is as low as 84th.

While the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust is effectively the highest rated nonspecialist hospital trust in the country, across the river the Gateshead Health NHS Trust is ranked a lowly 83rd.

The return of rankings has been part of the Labour Government's plan to push accountability in the health service - and the published table now highlights scores for each hospital trust in the country along with which quartile trusts fall in.

Northumbria Healthcare, recently rated top in the country by cancer patients, is ranked ninth overall, but all the trusts above are dedicated to a particular specialism.

At the other end of the table, Gateshead’s position is primarily due to concerns about its finances, hospital bosses said. The County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust is also in the third “segment’, below halfway in the league table.