None of the NHS’s hospitals feature in a list of the world’s 25 best, according to a league table released today.
Top spots were dominated by hospitals in the US, with sites in Canada, Germany, France, Sweden and Israel also featuring in the ten best.
Britain’s first entry on the global rankings — compiled by Newsweek and Statista — wasn’t until 41, with London’s St Thomas’ Hospital.
Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital came bottom of the pile when the analysis was broken down to just sites in the UK.
Campaigners today blasted the NHS results as ‘disappointing’ and said they ‘raised serious questions’ about Britain’s health service.
But bosses at the Department of Health said they were ‘proud of the excellent care provided’ by the NHS.
The above shows the ten best and worst NHS hospitals in the UK. The best were most located in the capital, although two were also in Newcastle. The worst were dotted across the country
The annual World’s Best Hospitals table, which has now been running for four years, ranks 2,200 hospitals in 27 countries, including Brazil, India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Colombia.
Each hospital analysed is given a score from 0 to 100. Not all of the NHS’s hospitals were included in the snapshot.
It is based on surveys from 80,000 medical experts and thousands of patients. Key performance indicators — such as waiting times and the ratio of doctors to patients — are also taken into account.
Newsweek says that scores are only comparable between hospitals in the same country, because they are based on the same performance measures.
Its report: ‘A score of 90 in country A doesn’t necessarily mean this hospital is better than a hospital with a score of 87 in country B.’
The Department of Health said the NHS was asked to pay towards the rankings every year, and said they were effectively a ‘paid advertorial’.
A spokesperson said: ‘We are proud of the excellent care provided, free at the point of use, in hospitals throughout the country, and continue to work hard to ensure the best care is there for people when they need it.
‘Our record investment in the NHS hospitals and other healthcare services includes an extra £2 billion this year and £8 billion over the next three years.’
But campaign groups today warned it suggested the NHS was not meeting the standards seen in other countries.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Given the new health and social care levy, British taxpayers may well wonder whether they are getting value for money.
‘Healthcare bosses must ensure the NHS is offering all patients get the level of care they need.’
He added: ‘These rankings raise serious questions about NHS performance and how it really compares to other countries’.
Emily Fielder, of the Adam Smith Institute thinktank, said: ‘It is disappointing, but not surprising, that despite being the fifth largest economy in the world, a UK hospital does not even rank in the top 40.
‘The fact that the methodology used key performance indicators for quality of care and patient safety, and patient experience to come to this conclusion is indicative of the abject failure of the NHS to deliver for patients.’
The US dominated the list of top 50 hospitals, netting as many as 14 of the positions.
Germany took the second-most top spots, with six, followed by Switzerland, four, and Canada, France and Japan, which each had three.
Just one UK hospital — St Thomas’ in London — was in the top 50.
Looking at the top 10 hospitals in the UK, half were in the capital. Newcastle had two of the best, while Cambridge, Oxford and Birmingham each had one.
Of the 10 worst, these were mostly dotted across rural areas with two in both the North West and South West.
The Midlands, East of England, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, London and Northern Ireland each had one of the worst.
It comes after the NHS last year lost its rating as the best healthcare system in the world, after seven years on top of the charts.
The Commonwealth Fund thinktank’s report put the UK’s service at fourth best, out of 11 wealthy countries. It said Norway, the Netherlands and Australia now all provide better care.
The slip down the rankings was blamed on delays for patients accessing care and treatment, a lack of investment in the service and poverty.
NHS waiting lists have spiralled to record highs following the pandemic, with 6.1million people in England now in the queue for care.
But Government estimates suggest this could double over the coming years as patients who have stayed away due to the virus start to come forward.
Boris Johnson is set to hike taxes by 1.25 per cent from next month to bring in an extra £12billion-a-year for the NHS.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has also unveiled targets to end two-year waits for care by July, and one year waits by March 2025.
But Labour, health unions and even a senior Tory have slammed them as ‘not being ambitious enough’ and ‘falling seriously short’ of expectations.
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