Greater Manchester NHS Trusts Shine and Struggle in New Rankings

The release of the first-ever league tables comparing NHS trusts in England highlights significant disparities in healthcare across the UK. Within Greater Manchester, two NHS trusts have been positioned at both ends of the spectrum: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust ranked as the third-best in England, while Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust found itself fourth from the bottom in its category.

The rankings, published by the Department of Health and Social Care, evaluate trusts on several critical metrics, including financial performance, access to care, surgery waiting lists, and ambulance response times. Health experts have raised concerns that these rankings may oversimplify the complexities of NHS care, which cannot merely be categorized as “good” or “bad.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended the initiative, asserting that the quarterly publication of these league tables aims to redirect focus towards areas that require additional support. He stated, “We must be honest about the state of the NHS to fix it.” This transparency, according to Streeting, is essential for dismantling the regional “postcode lottery” that has long characterized healthcare access in the UK.

Performance Insights

The top ten best-performing hospitals predominantly consist of specialist trusts. Leading the rankings is Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, followed by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust and Greater Manchester’s The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The highest-rated large hospital trust is Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which secured the ninth position.

Conversely, several trusts are struggling significantly. Among the lowest performers are Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Devon Partnership Trust. Notably, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was ranked at the bottom of the table.

Under the new plans from the Department of Health and Social Care, higher standards will be established for NHS leaders, with pay linked to performance. This means that senior managers at consistently poorly ranked trusts may face pay reductions, while incentives will be introduced to encourage NHS leaders to engage with and improve struggling trusts.

Streeting emphasized the importance of these rankings, stating, “Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country.” He expressed confidence that these league tables would help identify where urgent support is needed and facilitate the sharing of best practices among high-performing areas.

Trust Rankings Overview

The rankings are categorized into three sections: acute trusts, non-acute trusts, and ambulance trusts. Notably, a lower score indicates better performance. Each trust’s overall ranking is displayed, followed by its name, type of trust in brackets, and their respective score.

This initiative aims to foster accountability and improvement within the NHS, allowing patients to gain a clearer understanding of the healthcare services available to them. With these rankings, there is hope for a more equitable distribution of healthcare quality across the UK, ultimately benefiting patients nationwide.