HEALTH trusts serving Essex have been rated as some of the worst in England. Mid and South Essex NHS Trust, which is responsible for Broomfield, Basildon and Southend hospitals, was rated 123rd out of 134 trusts in the first of the Labour government’s new NHS league tables reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow was rated 120th. The East of England ambulance service was rated the worst ambulance service of the 10 in the country.
Bosses of all three organisations have pledged to improve care following the publication of the first league table. The Government has said trusts in mid-table will be encouraged to learn from trusts at the top to help them improve their rankings.
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.
Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are absolutely focussed on improving our position as a Trust. Our recovery plans are already in motion and we are working closely with NHS England and our wider health and care partners. Our commitment is to patients and staff, who are at the heart of our 10-year plan.
“Our aim is to make rapid, sustainable improvement – cutting waiting lists, continuing to improve the quality of care we provide, and spending taxpayers’ money responsibly.”
Thom Lafferty, chief executive at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), said: “Whilst the national framework has changed, our performance across most standards is improving, including emergency department waiting times and our financial and workforce-related performance measures.
“However, we remain on an improvement journey and are taking radical steps across the organisation to address areas of long-standing under-performance.
“This includes working with partners to ensure our population receive more timely and proportionate care across West Essex, making internal changes to improve our effectiveness, and using digital technology to manage waiting lists, including the new My Alex Health Patient Portal with increased access and control for patients to their health records, appointment information, test results and more.
“We are committed to improving our services for our patients and are looking forward to this being reflected in National Oversight Framework data in the future.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the initiative will highlight where immediate assistance is required and help eliminate the “postcode lottery” of care, though experts have cautioned that hospitals serving more challenging areas might be unfairly criticised. The table evaluates NHS trusts across various criteria including financial performance and patient access to treatment, alongside reducing surgical waiting lists and A&E delays, plus enhancing ambulance response times.
The launch of the quarterly tables was announced in November and top performers will be given greater freedoms and funding. Mr Streeting added: “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.”
Neill Moloney, chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “This assessment reflects the ongoing challenges we face — particularly around category 2 response times and tackling long-standing cultural issues within the trust.
“But it also demonstrates our huge desire and ambition to improve. We’re absolutely committed to serving our patients. Over the past year, we’ve made real progress, driving down response times across the region and improving patient care.
“I am committed to working with our colleagues, partners and patients to address our cultural issues openly and collaboratively, and deliver safe, high-quality care for our patients.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said league tables “must not become instruments of blame”.
He said: “We must guard against the risk of perverse incentives and ensure that the metrics used are transparent, relevant, and presented clearly.
“Poorly constructed tables could mislead patients or invite misplaced scrutiny from politicians and the media. To be truly effective, league tables must be objective, reflect what matters most to the public, and avoid penalising high-performing trusts that are contributing to wider system recovery. Above all, they should support improvement, not undermine it.”
