York Hospital has been hailed as a top performer.

It was ranked in the top 40 in the UK in the annual awards run by CHKS, an international company specialising in measuring health care performance.

Each hospital was rated on 17 different performance targets within the key areas of clinical effectiveness and outcomes.

Targets included patient surveys of outpatients and A&E, missed outpatient appointments, and the proportion of surgical treatments to patients aged over 65.

York Hospital chief executive Jim Easton said: "This award recognises the hard work of staff over the last year and their dedication to providing high quality patient care. Over the last 12 months, we have opened new and improved facilities, reduced the time patients have to wait in our A&E and hit all our key targets.

"This reward reflects all these milestones and we are pleased to be placed in the top 40 once again." CHKS chief executive Graham Harries said: "It is impressive to see that this year's top 40 hospitals have achieved the highest performance level of the five years in which we have been undertaking this study."

Updated: 10:21 Thursday, May 19, 2005