Overview

• The Department of Health and Social Care released rankings for 205 trusts—134 acute, 61 non-acute and 10 ambulance—using about 30 measures, updated quarterly, with four performance segments where lower scores indicate better performance.
• Moorfields Eye Hospital ranked first among acute trusts, while Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn placed last; specialist providers dominate the top tier and Northumbria is the highest-rated large general trust.
• Results carry consequences, with top performers promised greater autonomy and investment and lower performers offered enhanced support, alongside potential pay docking for persistently weak leaders and incentives for executives to take on challenged services.
• Separate tables cover mental health, community and ambulance services, and ministers plan to extend the framework to integrated care boards and wider performance areas by summer 2026 on a public dashboard.
• Think tanks and provider bodies caution that a single composite can mask differences across sites and specialties and, by factoring in finances, may penalise trusts in tougher contexts and risk demoralising staff or deterring patients.