Health Secretary, Alan Johnson and Healthcare Commission Chairman, Sir Ian Kennedy today (Thursday) sent letters publicly congratulating staff at 57 of the best NHS trusts in the country.

Mr Johnson and Sir Ian singled out those trusts that scored "excellent" for quality of services and "good" or "excellent" on use of resources in the Commission's 2007/2008 annual health check. These trusts had also performed consistently in all three years of the assessment*.

The annual health check is a challenging and comprehensive assessment of every NHS trust in the country. To do well, trusts must perform strongly across a broad range of standards and other issues that really matter to patients such as waiting times and better health outcomes.

Mr Johnson and Sir Ian thanked staff for their efforts to deliver quality healthcare to patients.

"Your organisation has achieved a level of performance that all trusts should aspire to," they said.

"Governments and regulators can encourage improvement but we know that it is the hard work and dedication of NHS staff that make things happen. We are sure that many patients will have benefited from your efforts. We hope that you and everyone at the trust will continue to drive forward improvements on behalf of the communities that you serve.

"The NHS is one of our most important public services. Working within it can be highly rewarding. But we know that it can also be extremely challenging and sometimes the staff - on whom the service depends - do not get the recognition they deserve."

To celebrate the success of trusts, the Healthcare Commission is also:

-- Highlighting the trusts that have improved their results significantly. Twenty-six trusts raised their performance for quality of services by two levels on the four-point scale ranging from "weak" to "excellent". A further 14 trusts achieved this for their score on use of resources.

-- Publishing case studies of 10 NHS trusts. The document, Raising the standard, brings together a selection of different types of trusts from across the country. It details how they have consistently delivered high standards, turned around poor performance or addressed challenging local issues.

In a foreword to the publication, Sir Ian said: "It is so important to acknowledge and celebrate the achievement of those who have done a good job. The failures of the NHS are widely rehearsed, but its successes attract significantly less attention."

* The 57 trusts were chosen along the following criteria:

-- They must have received a rating of "excellent" for quality of services in the 2007/08 annual health check.

-- They must have received a rating of "excellent" or "good" for use of resources.

-- They must not have received the lowest rating for any component of the annual health check over three years. This includes individual scores for core standards, existing national targets and new national targets.

• The Commission has never changed a core standard declaration to "not met" following an inspection, in any of the three assessment years.

The following 57 trusts received the letter:

- Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Barnsley Primary Care Trust
- Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership Trust)
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
- Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust
- Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust
- Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Dorset Primary Care Trust
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust
- Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust
- Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Knowsley Primary Care Trust
- Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust
- North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust
- Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Pennine Care NHS Trust
- Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
- Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
- Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust
- Salford Primary Care Trust
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
- Sandwell Mental Health NHS and Social Care Trust
- Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust
- Somerset Partnership NHS and Social Care Trust
- South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- South Tyneside Primary Care Trust
- South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust
- St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
- Sussex Partnership NHS Trust
- Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
- Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
- The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
- Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The following 26 trusts improved their rating for quality services by two levels from 2006/07 to 2007/08:

- 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Calderstones NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Dorset Primary Care Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Liverpool Primary Care Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Sandwell Mental Health NHS and Social Care Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Wirral Primary Care Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")
- Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")
- Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")
- Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")

The following 14 trusts improved their rating for use of resources by two levels from 2006/07 to 2007/08:

- Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("fair" to "excellent")
- Devon Primary Care Trust ("weak" to "good")
- East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")
- Lincolnshire Teaching Primary Care Trust ("weak" to "good")
- Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust ("weak" to "good")
- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust ("weak" to "good")
- West Sussex Primary Care Trust ("weak" to "good")

-- More information on this years annual health check
-- View the overall performance ratings
-- Search for your local trust

Information on the Healthcare Commission

The Healthcare Commission is the health watchdog in England. It keeps check on health services to ensure that they are meeting standards in a range of areas. The Commission also promotes improvements in the quality of healthcare and public health in England through independent, authoritative, patient-centred assessments of those who provide services.

Responsibility for inspection and investigation of NHS bodies and the independent sector in Wales rests with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). The Healthcare Commission has certain statutory functions in Wales which include producing an annual report on the state of healthcare in England and Wales, national improvement reviews in England and Wales, and working with HIW to ensure that relevant cross-border issues are managed effectively.

The Healthcare Commission does not cover Scotland as it has its own body, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) undertakes regular reviews of the quality of services in Northern Ireland.

www.healthcarecommission.org.uk