BOSSES at York Hospital were today celebrating being back on top as one of the best-rated hospitals in the country.

The hospital achieved all its key targets this year - which meant it jumped from two stars to three in the annual performance indicators, run by the Healthcare Commission.

Hospitals were tested in key performance areas, including emergency waits in casualty, cancelled operations, financial management, cleanliness, staff working conditions, inpatient and outpatient waiting times, total time spent in Accident and Emergency and waits for cancer treatment.

York Hospital's rating means it can reapply to become one of the Government's flagship foundation trusts. Hospital bosses will decide in September whether to reapply for foundation status.

Its chief operating officer and director of nursing, Mike Proctor, said: "This is great news for the trust, particularly for all the staff who have worked so hard to achieve these year on year improvements.

"This shows that York Hospital continues to improve in all areas. We have shown that we have a great ability to tackle the real problem issues and maintain a very high performance, despite the increasing number of patients coming through the hospital each year."

In July last year the Healthcare Commission awarded York Hospitals NHS Trust two stars in its annual performance ratings - the first time York had fallen below three stars.

On that occasion, although eight out of nine targets were met, the hospital failed to meet its cleanliness target.

Mr Proctor said that in particular the hospital still needed to improve emergency care and improve the hospital environment, including hospital cleanliness.

In June this year the Evening Press reported that private sector cleaning at York Hospital had been ditched after complaints from staff, patients and visitors.

Health chiefs pledged to reintroduce in-house cleaning early next year and invest another £800,000 into the service the following year.

Mr Proctor said: "We are now focused on continuing to improve this performance in line with new Government targets and our own aspirations to improve the experience of patients."

"A key aspect of our success however is the willingness of our staff to change the way they work, as individuals and in teams, to improve patient care.

"Thank you to all our staff for their part in achieving our three-star status - they really deserve it!"

:: Frontline health body fails to meet targets

THE body which funds health services and provides frontline care in the York and Selby area dropped dramatically in the NHS "star" ratings today.

Bosses at the York and Selby Primary Care Trust (PCT) spoke of their disappointment after it emerged that it had scored just one star in the NHS performance ratings, down from the three star rating it has achieved over the past two years.

The PCT failed two key targets - financial management and an under achievement of the Government target for the number of smokers who had successfully stopped smoking at four weeks.

The trust was £6.4 million in the red in the last financial year.

PCT chief executive Jeremy Clough, said he was "very disappointed" to receive one star, as this did not reflect the quality of services provided to the local community.

He claimed the PCT was still performing at the highest level in the country in areas such as cervical screening, cancer treatment and coronary heart disease, diabetic screening and vaccinations and immunisation.

Mr Clough said: "We are facing a hugely significant financial problem that rightly affects our rating." But he said staff were working hard to deliver a three-year financial recovery plan.

The PCT recently launched a campaign with the Evening Press to encourage employers to ban smoking in their workplaces, which could influence its performance in tackling smoking.

Robin Mcilroy, of Selby and York Patient Forum, said: "It has been widely known that trust has financial difficulties for a while now. However, we are pleased that despite this the trust has continued to provide all the frontline services for patients in Selby and York that it has promised."

Updated: 09:53 Wednesday, July 27, 2005