THERE were mixed results for NHS trusts in Cambridgeshire this week with the publication of the Care Quality Commission s (CQC) annual performance ratings. The ratings, which measure a range of performance categories from financial management to cleanlin

THERE were mixed results for NHS trusts in Cambridgeshire this week with the publication of the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) annual performance ratings.

The ratings, which measure a range of performance categories from financial management to cleanliness, found several trusts in Cambridgeshire had improved on last year's results but some trusts saw a drop in standards result in their rating being downgraded.

The CQC are responsible for monitoring the performance of all 392 NHS trusts in England and rate their performances as either excellent, good, fair or weak.

NHS Cambridgeshire was judged as being 'fair', the second year the trust received the rating. Chris Banks, chief executive of NHS Cambridgeshire, said:

"We are not surprised by the current rating as we are still held back by our historic debt but have made great strides in quality of service provision in the last year.

"Overall, the details of the scores in 2008/09 do show improvement and we were very close to achieving a good in quality of services. This is positive news and we will be looking to continue this progress in the coming year."

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS, the trust in charge of Addenbrooke's Hospital, was rated as 'good' for both quality of services and use of resources but the rating was a downgrade on last year, when the trust was rated as excellent.

Dr Gareth Goodier, Chief Executive of Cambridge University Hospitals, said:

"We missed out on an 'excellent' rating by a tiny margin. This was down to two issues: the format of some appointment records did not match the template introduced by the CQC, and a small number of patients using a region-wide service had to wait longer when it was under heavy pressure. Whilst I realise that this was not ideal for these patients, it did not justify marking us down.

"This score does not reflect what we have achieved in the last year. Sometimes things go wrong, but our track record, our plans for the future and the feedback we get from patients tell us that these are still excellent hospitals."

Improvements made by the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) were highlighted by its 'fair' rating, a marked improvement on the 'weak' rating which it received last year.