York Hospital ranked among lowest in country in Wes Streeting's new league tables
A Yorkshire hospital trust has been ranked among the lowest in the country according to new league tables published by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been put into the bottom of four categories released by Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
It ranks 118 out of 134 acute trusts across England.
The rankings score trusts based on a range of measures, including finances and patient access to care, as well as bringing down waiting times for operations and A&E, and improving ambulance response times.
Trusts are categorised in four segments, with the first reflecting the best performers and the fourth showing the worst.
Higher performing trusts in the region include Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which was ranked at 37 and in the second highest category.
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust was ranked at 44, and Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was ranked as 51st.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was ranked above York at 96th, in the third category.
Under the plans by the DHSC, higher standards will also be set for leaders, with pay tied to performance.
Senior managers at trusts that are persistently ranked poorly could see their pay docked, while NHS leaders will have extra pay incentives to go into challenged trusts and turn them around.
Mr Streeting said: “We must be honest about the state of the NHS to fix it. Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country.
“These league tables will identify where urgent support is needed and allow high-performing areas to share best practices with others, taking the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.
“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.”
However, experts have questioned the helpfulness of the tables, warning that hospital performance is “not as simple as good or bad”.
Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at The King’s Fund, warned that “a single ranking cannot give the public a meaningful understanding of how good or bad a hospital is”.
“Whether NHS trust league tables will be helpful to the public is questionable, because hospital performance is not as simple as good or bad,” she said.
A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “The metrics used to determine the ratings are reflective of the priority areas we are focused on as a Trust, and whilst we are not yet where we want to be, we have robust plans in place to drive improvement.
"While there is more to do, we are beginning to see these plans have a positive impact thanks to the efforts and dedication of our staff, as demonstrated most recently in our latest CQC report.”